a large-scale invasion of the Dutch Republic by French and other armies, likely also played a role. Maes must have counted on his fashionable portrait paintings to attract the patronage of Amsterdam's larger population of prosperous burghers. His calculation was correct as Maes was so much in demand as a portraitist in Amsterdam that sitters considered it a favour to be given the chance to have the artist paint their portrait. The great number of portraits dating to the 1670s and 1680s are evidence of his success as a society portraitist. His pupils in Dordrecht included his stepson Justus de Gelder, Margaretha van Godewijk, Jacob Moelaert, and Johannes Vollevens. Despite his long-term residency in Amsterdam starting from 1673, Maes never became a citizen of Amsterdam. He waited until 1688 to register with the Amsterdam Guild of Saint Luke, only after the municipality had demanded a list of members from the Guild. Maes registered with the Guild not as a 'burgher' (citizen of Amsterdam), but as a resident. During his life he achieved financial success, as at his death his estate included 11,000 guilders in cash, two houses in Dordrecht and three houses in Amsterdam. Maes suffered from gout in the final years of his life. His wife Adriana Brouwers was buried in the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam on 14 March 1690. On 24 December 1693, he was buried alongside his wife. Works Biblical and mythological scenes In his early years as an independent artist in the early 1650s Maes painted a few biblical and mythological scenes. These include the Suffer the little Children to come unto Me (1652/3, London, National Gallery), Vertumnus and Pomona (possibly 1653, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin) and Woman of Samaria at the Well (1653, Russell collection, Amsterdam). Maes' biblical compositions were clearly indebted to his master Rembrandt's models but show at the same time that he was capable of interpreting the Bible and the iconographic precedents in an original manner. For instance, in the Dismissal of Hagar and Ishmael (1653, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) Maes portrays Abraham banishing the handmaiden Hagar along with their son, Ishmael. By showing Hagar's despondency and Ishmael's isolated posture the work is one of the most moving renderings of this theme, popular with Rembrandt's pupils. Most of Maes' religious compositions are of cabinet size except for the Christ Blessing the Children (National Gallery, London) which depicts life-size figures. Genre