The opposite of this glittering portrait is the sombre Malle Babbe, of about 1630-33. Nobody knows who the old creature was or the meaning of her nickname. Often called an «old crone» she might be from forty to sixty years old. Hals has caught her in the midst of a fit of insane laughter. Possibly she is a town idiot and the owl on her shoulder is a symbol of foolishness. The expression seized in a storm of strokes is rendered with a demonic intensity.
About 1664 when he was past 80, Hals showed a still different side of his character and ability in the Regentesses of the Old Man's Almshouse. Painted almost entirely in black and white and shades of grey, this solemn picture is united by diagonal movements. The painter had only devastated faces and white collars of the women as component elements. Each of the subjects has reacted in a separate way to age and experience, yet all participate in a calm acceptance of the effects of time. In its simplicity the composition shows an expressive depth unexpected in the generally excited Hals.
Make sure you know how to pronounce the following words:
Hals; Haarlem; Antwerp; cavalier; banquet; regentess
Notes
Banquet of the Officers of the Saint George Guard Company – «Портрет офицеров гильдии святого Георгия»
The Laughing Cavalier – «Портрет молодого офицера»
Malle Babbe – «Мале Бабе»
Regentesses of the Old Man's Almshouse – «Регентши приюта для престарелых»
Tasks
I. Read the text. Mark the following statements true or false
1. Today Hals is recognized as the most brilliant portraitist.
2. Hals shows citizen-soldiers in the midst of the banquets.
3. Malle Babbe is a glittering portrait.
4. The warmth of Hals's early style is seen in the Regentesses of the Old Man's Almshouse.
5. The Laughing Cavalier is the symbol of Baroque gallantry.
6. The subjects of the Regentesses of the Old Man's Almshouse participate in a calm acceptance of the effects of time.
II. How well have you read? Can you answer the following questions?
1. What gift was Hals blessed with?
2. What were Hals's early commissions? Why were not Hals's portraits conductive to imaginative painting? How did Hals's predecessors compose their group portraits? Who could raise group portraits to a level of high drama?
3. What is the Banquet of the Officers of the Saint George Guard Company noted for? What has Hals pictured in this work of art? What ties the picture together?
4. Where is the warmth of Hals's early style seen? How old is the subject? What makes the subject the symbol of Baroque gallantry? How did Hals interpret the Caravaggesque nowhere?
