Maes, Nicolaes (1634–1693)

Dutch painter. He painted scenes of everyday life and portraits. His early and most distinctive work, in the style of Rembrandt, includes The Idle Servant (National Gallery, London). Later, with a marked change of style, he turned to fashionable portraiture.

Maes was born in Dordrecht and became a pupil of Rembrandt in Amsterdam. It was a visit to Antwerp between 1665 and 1667 that changed his style radically. His work became very cool and elegant, nearer to Anthony van Dyck than Rembrandt. His new style brought him great success.

This change in style of his later pictures is so marked that they were once thought to be by another painter of the same name.