Boy with a Lute

Frans Hals

ca. 1625 · Oil on canvas · European Paintings

Inspired by Dutch Caravaggesque painters such as Gerrit van Honthorst and Hendrick ter Brugghen, Hals painted pictures of carefree musicians during the mid- to late 1620s. Here a young man pours a last drop of red wine onto his thumbnail, a signal to the innkeeper that he needs a refill, and to the viewer that (according to a Dutch rhyme of the period) "The glass is empty. Time is up." While Hals's authorship cannot be doubted, the picture's appearance has been affected by changes made by the artist himself and by later restorers. For example, the collar on the shirt and the lute string crossing over the thumb (thus obscuring the gesture's meaning) are not original.

Artist

Frans Hals

Date

ca. 1625

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

European Paintings

Credit line

Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913