# Portrait of a Woman, probably Aeltje Dircksdr. Pater

- By: Frans Hals (Dutch, c. 1581–1666)
- Date: 1638
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: Framed: 82 x 67 x 6.5 cm (32 5/16 x 26 3/8 x 2 9/16 in.); Unframed: 66.5 x 52.3 cm (26 3/16 x 20 9/16 in.)
- Culture: Netherlands
- Credit line: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1948.137)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/cma/1948.137/1948.137_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Portraits by Hals often feature bold, jagged brushstrokes. This portrait shows him experimenting with the “wet-into-wet,” technique, in which layers of paint were added in succession without being allowed to dry in between. Note the blended strokes used at the woman’s hairline to suggest individual strands of hair. The sitter has been tentatively identified as Aeltje Dircksdr. Pater (1597–1678), wife of the Haarlem brewer and burgomaster (mayor) Jan de Wael (1594–1663). An inscription states she was 41 when Hals painted her.