The Merry Drinker
| The Merry Drinker | |
|---|---|
| Dutch: De vrolijke drinker | |
 | |
| Artist | Frans Hals |
| Year | 1628-1630 |
| Medium | oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 81 cm × 66.5 cm (32 in × 26.2 in) |
| Location | Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
The Merry Drinker is a painting by Frans Hals, from 1628-1630.
Description
The painting has dimensions 81 x 66.5 centimeters. It is in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
Analysis
The painting shows a man wearing a leather jerkin, lace collar and cuffs, and a floppy hat tipped at an angle. He is gesturing with his right hand and holding a glass of white wine in his left hand. He seems caught in a moment of discussion with the viewer. A medallion dangles from his neck chain, which Hofstede de Groot claimed was a likeness of Prince Maurice of Orange.[1] Various experts have claimed the painting represents the sense of taste. In old Dutch inventories, the theme of a "merry drinker" or "jolly toper" occurs often, and this was probably not a portrait but meant as a genre piece.
References
- ^ Catalog nr. 63, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth century Based on the work of John Smith, Volume III (Frans Hals and Adriaen & Isaac van Ostade), by Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, with the assistance of Kurt Freise and Dr. Kurt Erasmus, translated by Edward G. Hawke, Macmillan & Co., London, 1910
Sources
- Frans Hals, a catalogue raisonné of Hals works by Seymour Slive: Volume Three, the catalogue, National gallery of Art: Kress Foundation, Studies in the History of European Art, London - Phaidon Press, 1974