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Portrait of a Man

Frans Hals

European Art

On View: Luce Visible Storage and Study Center, 5th Floor
In this painting by Frans Hals, an unidentified, well-to-do man holds a miniature portrait of a woman, perhaps his wife or fiancée. The hand holding the miniature appears to extend through the simulated oval frame and into the viewer’s own space, an effect known as trompe l’oeil (fool the eye). The loose and bold brushwork for which Hals is known—especially evident in the man’s lace collar and hair—greatly influenced a number of nineteenth-century artists including Giovanni Boldini, whose painting is on view nearby.
MEDIUM Oil on canvas
  • Place Made: Netherlands
  • DATES ca. 1614–1615
    DIMENSIONS 29 x 21 3/4 in. (73.7 x 55.2 cm) Frame: 39 x 32 x 4 1/2 in. (99.1 x 81.3 x 11.4 cm)  (show scale)
    COLLECTIONS European Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 32.821
    CREDIT LINE Gift of the executors of the Estate of Colonel Michael Friedsam
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Luce Visible Storage and Study Center, 5th Floor
    CAPTION Frans Hals (Dutch, ca. 1580–1666). Portrait of a Man, ca. 1614–1615. Oil on canvas, 29 x 21 3/4 in. (73.7 x 55.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the executors of the Estate of Colonel Michael Friedsam, 32.821 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 32.821_SL1.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 32.821_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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