MYTENS (Daniel), of the Hague, was an ad-
mired painter in the reigns of king James and king
Charles. He had certainly (Mr Waipole ſays) ſtudied
the works of Rubens before his coming over. His
landscape in the back grounds of his portraits is evi-
dently in the ſtyle of that ſchool; and ſome of his
works have been taken for Vandyck's. The date
of his arrival is not certain. At Hampton court are
ſeveral whole lengths of princes and princeſſes of the
houſe of Brunſwick-Lunenburg, and the portrait of
Charles Howard earl of Nottingham; at Kenington
is Mytens's own head. At Knowle, Lionel Cranfield
earl of Middleſex, lord treaſurer, with his white ſtaff,
whole length. At Lady Elizabeth Germain's at Dray-
ton is a very fine whole length of Henry Rich earl of
Holland, in a ſtamped habit, with a walking ſtick. At
St James's is Jeffery Huſſon the dwarf, holding a
dog by a ſtring, in a landscape, coloured warmly and
freely like Snyder or Rubens. Mytens drew the ſame
figure in a very large picture of Charles I. and his
Queen,
Mytens, Queen, which was in the possession of the late earl of Mythology Dunmore. The picture of the Queen of Scots at St James's is a copy by Mytens. Mytens remained in great reputation till the arrival of Vandyck, who being appointed the king's principal painter, the former in disgust asked his Majesty's leave to retire to his own country; but the king learning the cause of his dissatisfaction treated him with much kindness, and told him that he could find sufficient employment both for him and Vandyck. Mytens consented to stay, and even grew intimate, it is probable, with his rival, for the head of Mytens is one of those painted among the professors by that great master. Whether the same jealousy operated again, or real decline of business influenced him, or any other cause, Mytens did not stay much longer in England. We find none of his works here after the year 1630. Yet he lived many years afterwards. Houbraeken quotes a register at the Hague dated in 1656, at which time it says Mytens painted part of the ceiling of the town hall there; the subject is, Truth writing history on the back of Fame.