The earlier generation of the van Mieris family includes three brothers, Frans (Bastiaensz.) van Mieris (c. 1576-before 1625), Dirck (Bastiaensz.) van Mieris (d 1638) and Jan (Bastiaensz.) van Mieris (c. 1586-1650), all of whom were gold- and silversmiths in Leiden, as was Frans's son, Willem (Fransz.) van Mieris (c. 1600-1656). The most important artist of the family was Jan's son, the painter Frans van Mieris the Elder, who had two sons who also became painters: the eldest Jan [Johannes] van Mieris (1660-90), and the fourth child, the more famous Willem van Mieris. Both were apprenticed to their father. Only a few works are known by Jan, who died in Rome aged 30; those that survive (e.g. Self-portrait of the Artist in his Studio, 1688; Hamburg, Ksthalle) show that he was a talented painter whose style resembles that of his father's later work. Frans van Mieris the Younger, grandson of Frans van Mieris the Elder and son of Willem van Mieris, also became a good painter, who left behind an extensive oeuvre.