Miel, Jan

Miel, Jan a distinguished Flemish painter, was born in a small village near Antwerp in 1599. Lanzi says he was a pupil of Vandyck. He resided some time at Rome, where he studied under Andrea Sacchi, to whom he gave such proofs of genius that he was employed to assist him in his works at the Palazzo Barberini. Miel, whose disposition led him to the grotesque, introduced something ludicrous into the work, which was deemed unworthy the dignity of the subject, and he was dismissed. He then visited Lombardy to study the works of Correggio, and also passed some time in Parma and Bologna. On his return to Rome he was employed by pope Alexander VII to paint a picture of Moses striking the Rock for the gallery of Monte Cavallo. He also painted a Baptism of St. Cyrillio for the church of S. Martino de' Monti, and the Annunciation, and some frescos of the life of St. Lamberti, in S. Maria dell' Anima. Subsequently he was invited to Turin by Charles Emanuel, duke of Savoy, who appointed him court painter, and in whose service he was retained the residue of his life. After his engagement by the duke he painted no more religious works. He was elected a member of the Academy of St. Luke in 1648, and thereafter devoted himself almost entirely to hunting scenes and battle pieces. He died at Turin in 1664. Many of Miel's best works are in the Imperial Gallery at Vienna. See Lanzi, History of Painting, transl. by Roscoe (Lond. 1847, 3 volumes, 8vo), 3:307; Spooner, Biog. Hist. of the fine Arts (N.Y. 1865, 2 volumes, 8vo).