Merrymakers at Shrovetideca. 1616–17
An elaborately dressed young woman sits at a crowded table during the boisterous days before Lent, surrounded by grinning revellers, among them two stock characters of Dutch carnival theatre, Peeckelhaeringh and Hans Wurst. More about this work
About this work
An elaborately dressed young woman sits at a crowded table during the boisterous days before Lent, surrounded by grinning revellers, among them two stock characters of Dutch carnival theatre, Peeckelhaeringh and Hans Wurst. The table is strewn with food and objects loaded with bawdy innuendo, and the ‘lady’ may be a young man in disguise, part of the carnival’s role reversal. Frans Hals painted this crowded, raucous scene early in his career, and its bravura brushwork already shows the lively, broken touch that made his portraits famous.
Written by Ochre Editions.
How it was made
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
Frans Hals
Dutch, 1582–1666 · Born in Antwerp; died in Haarlem.
Hals was born in Antwerp but spent his whole career in Haarlem, where he became its leading portraitist. His loose, rapid brushwork, unusual for its time, gives his sitters a sense of movement and spontaneity, whether in commissioned likenesses, lively genre figures or the large group portraits of the city’s civic guards and almshouse regents. His late, darker style was little valued after his death, but painters such as Manet and Van Gogh admired him intensely.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Met has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 14.40.605
- Credit
- Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Type
- Paintings
- Department
- European Paintings
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
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