796.
Dou said that the "Prince of his pupils" was Frans van Mieris of Delft, who combined the manner and predilections of his master with those of Terburg.

He was very popular with collectors, but I do not experience any great joy in the presence of his work, which, with all its miraculous deftness, is yet lacking in personal feeling.

Mieris, says Ireland, "was frequently paid a ducat per hour for his works.

His intimacy and friendship for Jan Steen, that excellent painter and bon vivant, seems to have led him into much inconvenience.

After a night's debauch, quitting Jan Steen, he fell into a common drain; whence he was extricated by a poor cobbler and his wife, and, treated by them with much kindness, he repaid the obligation by presenting them with a small picture, which, by his recommendation, was sold for a considerable sum." The amazingly minute picture of "The Poulterer's Shop" which hangs in the National Gallery as a pendant to Dou's work with the same title, is by William van Mieris, the son of Dou's favourite pupil.