Yonker Ramp and His Sweetheart
1623
Baroque, Dutch Golden Age
Oil on canvas
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

“Yonker Ramp and His Sweetheart” depicts a couple in a tavern, he is raising a glass with a smile while a dog is resting its head in his left hand. A half-opened curtain reveals another room. It is the only surviving Hals’ artwork that Is dated with an inscription on the canvas. The title was given to the piece in the 18th century with Yonker meaning young gentleman, however, the woman is more likely to have been a prostitute than his lover. The subject of long debates among art historians, the meaning of the painting is suggested to be a moral message on the perils of excess, as was common in genre pieces of the time. However, whatever the meaning behind the portrait it offers the viewer of today a peek into everyday life in 17th-century Haarlem

Franz Hals
Baroque, Dutch Golden Age
Born: 1582/83, Antwerp, Flanders
Nationality: Dutch
Died: 26 August 1666, Haarlem, Dutch Republic

Hals was a painter of the Dutch Golden Age. Particularly known for his portraiture, he lived and worked in Haarlem, The Netherlands. Hals played a vital role in the evolution of 17th-century group portraiture and his known for his loose brushwork

A Couple
1622
Baroque, Dutch Golden Age
Oil on canvas
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

“A Couple” was probably painted to celebrate the marriage of Isaac Abrahamsz Massa and Beatrix van der Laen in 1622. Unusual for the time it portrays the couple in relaxed poses and an outdoor location which was at odds with usual commissioned works to celebrate marriages with their formal and carefully posed format. The couple is seated and laid back beneath a tree both smiling knowingly at the viewer. Their open body language and direct gazes give the painting a sense of intimacy rarely present in other works of the time.

Franz Hals
Baroque, Dutch Golden Age
Born: 1582/83, Antwerp, Flanders
Nationality: Dutch
Died: 26 August 1666, Haarlem, Dutch Republic

Hals was a painter of the Dutch Golden Age. Particularly known for his portraiture, he lived and worked in Haarlem, The Netherlands. Hals played a vital role in the evolution of 17th-century group portraiture and is known for his loose brushwork

Malle Babbe
1633-35
Baroque, Dutch Golden Age
Oil on canvas
Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, Germany

“Malle Babbe “ is an unusual portrait depicting a woman sitting at a table holding a beer jug in her right hand and perched on her left shoulder sits an owl. She is laughing with her head turned to her left. Plainly dressed in brown with white collar and cuffs. It is considered that the subject was a real citizen of Haarlem and, using the translation of the Dutch “Malle Babbe” (“Malle” being crazy and “Babbe” a diminutive of Barbara), who is likely to suffer from a mental illness.

Franz Hals
Baroque, Dutch Golden Age
Born: 1582/83, Antwerp, Flanders
Nationality: Dutch
Died: 26 August 1666, Haarlem, Dutch Republic

Hals was a painter of the Dutch Golden Age. Particularly known for his portraiture, he lived and worked in Haarlem, The Netherlands. Hals played a vital role in the evolution of 17th-century group portraiture and his known for his loose brushwork