Frans Hals

Frans Hals's portraits give the people of seventeenth-century Haarlem a sense of movement through visible brushwork and alert expression. His subjects include families, civic guards, and regents of charitable institutions. A Family Group in a Landscape links parents, children, and a nursemaid through their poses and attention. Young Man holding a Skull is a character study rather than a commissioned likeness, combining an outward gesture with a traditional reminder of mortality.