The Laughing Cavalier (1624)

Hals, Frans (c.1582-1666) The Laughing Cavalier 1624 Oil on canvas, 83 x 67.3 cm Wallace Collection, London A highly gifted portraitist, Frans Hals had a supreme ability to characterise his sitters and make them appear lifelike. This exuberant portrait of a…

Jester with a Lute (c.1623-1624)

Hals, Frans (c.1582-1666) Jester with a Lute c.1623–1624 Oil on canvas, 70 x 62 cm Musée du Louvre, Paris The title of Bouffon (it dates back at least to 1921) refers to the world of theater (stripes of costume) and the genre…

Gypsy Girl (c.1626)

Hals, Frans (c.1582-1666) Gypsy Girl (La Bohémienne) c.1626 Oil on canvas, 58 x 52 cm Musée du Louvre, Paris The title of “Bohemian”, inseparable from the fame of the painting, was given to her upon her entry into the Louvre (cat. Reiset).…

Portrait of a Woman (c.1648)

Hals, Frans (c.1582-1666) Portrait of a Woman c.1648 Oil on canvas, 108 x 80 cm Musée du Louvre, Paris Dated around 1648 and perhaps, according to Grimm, a work by Jan Hals, in comparison with the latter’s Portrait of a Lady,…

Frans Hals

(c.1582–1666) Frans Hals the Elder The artist’s works: Merrymakers at Shrovetide c.1616–1617 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Portrait of a Couple c.1622 Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Jester with a Lute c.1623–1624 Musée du Louvre, Paris Young Man and Woman in an Inn 1623 Metropolitan…

La Inmaculada Concepción (1661)

Zurbarán, Francisco de (1598-1664) La Inmaculada Concepción (The Immaculate Conception) 1661 Oil on canvas, 136.5 x 102 cm Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest In this figure of a young virgin, radiating purity and sublime humility, Zurbarán embodied the ideal of the Inmaculada,…

La Sagrada Familia (1659)

Zurbarán, Francisco de (1598-1664) La Sagrada Familia (The Holy Family) 1659 Oil on canvas, 121.5 x 97 cm Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest At the very end of his career, Zurbarán abandoned the tenebroso manner of painting that had characterised his…

Ritratto d’uomo (c.1555)

Veronese, Paolo (1528-1588) Ritratto d’uomo (Portrait of a Man) c.1555 Oil on canvas, 120 x 102 cm Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest “There is one man who makes easy what we have always been told is impossible; and that is Paolo…