Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Haarlem—Catholicism. In the 1600s,
Haarlem was a Protestant town in the
midst of a war against Catholic Spain,
and local Catholics were guilty by
association. But Zaffius refused to be
silenced. He turns to glare and snarl
at the Protestant town fathers. He was
so personally imposing that the city
tolerated his outspokenness.
The face jumps out from a back-
ground of neutral gray-brown-black.
His features are alive—head turning,
mouth twisting, face wrinkling up,
beard bristling. Hals captures him in action, using a slow shutter
speed. The rough brushstrokes of the fur coat and beard suggest
the blur of motion of this agitated individual. This is Frans Hals'
first known portrait, painted when he—a late starter in the art
world—was nearly 30.
• Make a left into Room 18 to see the...
Portraits of Nicolaes Woutersz van der Meer and his wife,
Cornelia Claesdr Vooght (1631)
Hals knew Nicolaes van der Meer, a fellow Civic Guard lodge
member, personally. Van der Meer was a brewer, an important
post in a city where average beer consumption was six pints a day
per person (man, woman, and child). He was also the mayor, so
his pose is official and dignified, larger
than life-size. But the face is pure Golden
Age—red-cheeked and healthy, confident
and intelligent, his even gaze tinged with
wisdom. This mayor kept a steady hand on
the tiller of Haarlem's ship of state.
The face is literally the focus of this
other wise messy painting. The ruff led
collar is a tangle of simple, figure-eight
swirls of white paint; the brocaded coat is a
patchwork of white lines; and the lace cuffs
are a few broad outlines. But out of the
rough brushwork and somber background, Van der Meer's crystal-
clear eyes meet ours. The finely etched crow's-feet around his eyes
suggest that Hals had seen this imposing man break into a warm
smile. Hey, I'd vote for him as my mayor.
The companion painting shows Van der Meer's companion, his
wife,
Cornelia.
Husband-and-wife portraits were hung together—
notice that they share the same background, and the two figures
turn in toward each other. Still, both people are looking out at us,
