Portrait of a Woman

Frans Hals painted this woman half-length and against a grey background, inside an oval stone frame. The ‘frame-in-a-frame’ lends the work a stunning trompe-l’oeil effect. The woman’s dress meets the Calvinist regulations: black (satin or velvet) and white (linen or lace) without any frills. Hals’ paintings demonstrate great virtuosity, largely because of the artist’s fluid handling of the paint and…

Frans Hals painted this woman half-length and against a grey background, inside an oval stone frame. The ‘frame-in-a-frame’ lends the work a stunning trompe-l’oeil effect. The woman’s dress meets the Calvinist regulations: black (satin or velvet) and white (linen or lace) without any frills. Hals’ paintings demonstrate great virtuosity, largely because of the artist’s fluid handling of the paint and his broad brushstrokes. He worked ‘alla prima’, without drawing directly on the canvas. A rough sketch in grey paint sufficed. Between 1620 and 1630 he was making animated portraits; in the 1640s, he worked at a steadier pace and his colour palette became more subdued. The Portrait of a Woman dates from the beginning of this new phase.