Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Cuisine Art:
The Frans Hals Lunchcafé serves sandwiches and
other simple food (daily 12:00-16:30).
Overview
Frans Hals' paintings are just one part of the collection. The
museum fancies itself as
the
museum of the Golden Age, offering
you the rare opportunity of enjoying
17th-century art in a 17th-century
building. Well-described exhibits
unfold as the rectangular museum
wraps around a peaceful central
courtyard. The building's layout
makes sense when you realize it was
built as subsidized housing for poor
old men (in 1610).
Circle counterclockwise, through
the art of Hals' predecessors and col-
leagues, to the back. The lush still lifes give a sense of how good
life is and how important it is to embrace it before it all rots and
falls away. Your visit begins with “Haarlem in the 17th Century,”
showing Dutch slice-of-life painting alongside exhibits on the
things that concerned everyday Golden Agers: tulips, trading,
linen-weaving, militias, “women power,” and beer.
To see the Frans Hals paintings described in this chapter, start
in Room 14, with four large Civic Guard portraits, each a master-
piece. Then see his portraits and smaller works nearby (Rooms
16-19).
the toUr Begins
• Make your way to large Room 14, where you're well-guarded by can-
vases full of companies of men in uniform. We'll start with the men in
the bright red sashes.
Banquet of the Officers of the St. George Civic Guard
(1616)
In 1616, tiny Holland was the richest country on earth, and these
Haarlem men are enjoying the fruits of their labor. The bright red
sashes, the jaunty poses, the smiles, the rich food, the sweeping
tilt of the flags...the exuberant spirit of the Golden Age. These
weekend warriors have finished their ceremonial parade through
town and hung their weapons on the wall, and now they sit down
for a relaxed, after-the-show party.
The man in the middle (next to the flag-bearer, facing us) is
about to carve the chicken, when the meal is interrupted. It's us,
arriving late through the back door, and heads turn to greet us.
