Portrait of a Young Man

Frans Hals, who was born in Antwerp, was still a child when his parents fled religious persecution and moved with him to Holland. During his many years in Haarlem he painted almost exclusively portraits, in which he captured lifelike images of his fellow citizens. The half-length Portrait of a Young Man is one of the painter’s late works. The virtuoso treatment of the highly expressive face demonstrates his gift for psychological observation.