Jacob Smies was a Dutch painter, draftsperson, and printmaker born on June 11, 1764, in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He died on August 14, 1833, in Amsterdam. Smies was known for his works in the Neoclassicism art movement. He was a student of Jacob Smies, a printmaker and illustrator. Smies participated in numerous exhibitions in Amsterdam and The Hague until 1840. He was appointed a court painter in charge of portrait miniatures after completing a commission for a portrait of King William I in 1824. During the Belgian Revolution, he enlisted in the army, becoming a sergeant-major in the Hague Militia. Smies was a member of the Amsterdam branch of the 'United Commission to Erect a Monument for Rembrandt' in 1841. He moved to Paris in 1850 and presented Emperor Napoleon III with a miniature portrait of his father, Louis Bonaparte, in 1853. Smies's death year is unknown, but it is speculated that he died in 1864.