Collections: European Art: Portrait of a Man

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Portrait of a Man

Although the coat of arms in the upper left corner offers a clue to this sitter's lineage, his identity remains unknown. Extending his left hand through the simulated oval frame and into the viewer's space, the elegantly attired young man displays a painted miniature of a young woman, perhaps his betrothed or his wife. Before the advent of photography in the nineteenth century, portrait miniatures—both portable and intimate—permitted their owners an immediate access to the memory and appearance of loved ones. The fact that this young man's identity is forgotten seems particularly ironic, since both the miniature and the larger portrait were intended as remembrances.


• Artist: Frans Hals, Dutch, ca. 1580-1666
• 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)
• Collections: European Art
• Museum Location: This item is on view in Beaux-Arts Court, North, 3rd Floor
• Accession Number: 32.821
• Credit Line: Gift of the executors of the estate of Colonel Michael Friedsam
• Image: Overall, 32.821_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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) Frame: 39 x 32 x 4 1/2 in. (99.1 x 81.3 x 11.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the executors of the estate of Colonel Michael Friedsam, 32.821 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 32.821_SL1.jpg)