Jan Miel mainly Dutch and Flemish artists working in Rome. It was customary for the Bentvueghels to adopt an appealing nickname, the so-called 'bent name'. For Miel two different bent names are documented: "Bieco" (which means squint in Italian) and "Honingh-Bie" (which means honey bee and is derived from the surname 'Miele' by which he was known in Italy and which means 'honey' in Italian). In Rome he also became linked to the circle of genre painters whose work was influenced by the Dutch genre painter Pieter van Laer and were referred to as 'Bamboccianti'. The Bamboccianti were mainly Dutch and Flemish
Jan Miel city and country life. These works were repeatedly used as a model by the Bamboccianti in the second half of the century and by the genre painters working in Rome during the early 18th century. Miel made his most original contribution to genre painting through his paintings of carnival scenes. An example is the (Wadsworth Atheneum, 1645). The painting provides a powerful representation of the fury of carnival. As is common in Miel's 'bambocciate' compositions, noble and common people appear in the same scene: the Roman nobility mounted on horseback is dossed out in elegant costumes while the common people