A seated man sharpening a quill pen. Engraving by R. Wallis after F. van Mieris.

"The writing master. From the picture in the Royal Gallery, Dresden. Frans Mieris, painter. R. Wallis, engraver. How this picture could ever have acquired the name by which it is known, and which we have therefore retained, seems inexplicable: there is nothing in the intellectual, well-looking, and well-dressed figure to indicate a man who earns his living by teaching the art of penmanship to the youngsters of his time. The books on the table, which is covered with a rich tapestried cloth, and the globe on his right hand, testify to his being a student of some kind; and the open manuscript book before him suggests that he is simply in the act of mending a pen to enable him to continue his writing. Assuming his occupation to be that of a copyist—and the composition might admit of such construction, though it is far from probable—the proper title would have been 'The scribe.' But whatever name the picture bears, the work itself is a remarkably fine specimen of one of those famous Dutch genre painters of the seventeenth century whose productions enrich almost every gallery of repute in Europe where the works of the old masters have a home. Frans van Mieris, born in 1635 at Leyden, studied under Gerhard Dou, and with such an instructor he made so great progress that his works soon gave him a high reputation. Finished with the utmost elaboration of pencilling, this quality never appears to be the result of great labour, but is free and masterly. He is known to have painted numerous portraits, and it is not unlikely that this 'writing master' may be one of them, for not a few of his fancy pictures are miniature portraits treated as such. Mieris’s single figures, whether of males or females, and his "conversation" compositions of two or more persons, are frequently seen through an arched casement or window, as in the annexed engraving. The treatment of this subject is very effective; the light, it will be seen, does not enter the apartment through the open archway, but through a window on the left, which is only made apparent by its illuminating the various objects on which it falls. This light is intensified by the introduction of a dark curtain, that helps to give brilliancy to the picture. The natural attitude of the man, the modelling of the head and hands, the easy flow of the lines in the arrangement of his costume, are points of excellence which must commend themselves to all who examine the work carefully. Even the copper-lined hand-dish, half filled with water, and the towel by its side, have their value in the general design, by filling up agreeably, and concealing, the angle of the archway, which otherwise would have appeared formal. The grace of Frans Mieris's figures, and their entire freedom from vulgarity, constitute not the least of their attractive qualities. This painter died in 1681, at the comparatively early age of forty-six, the victim of intemperate habits long indulged in: he left two sons, John and William, who studied under their father; the younger of the brothers may be placed in the ranks of the best Dutch painters of genre, but he is inferior to his father."--The art journal, loc. cit.