Portrait of Tieleman Roosterman

Frans Hals (Dutch, c. 1581–1666)

1634

Medium
oil on canvas
Classification
Painting
Dimensions
Framed: 139 x 109 x 5.5 cm (54 3/4 x 42 15/16 x 2 3/16 in.); Unframed: 117 x 87 cm (46 1/16 x 34 1/4 in.)
Culture
Netherlands
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art, European Painting and Sculpture
Credit line
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Rights
Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed

View at the Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

An extremely wealthy linen and silk merchant in Haarlem, Tieleman Roosterman was 36 years old when Frans Hals painted his portrait. Unlike many Dutch painters of the period, Hals favored strong, visible brushstrokes that convey the vitality of his sitters. Roosterman strikes a confident pose, his costume sober but luxurious: his sleeves are decorated with braid and buttons, and ribbon rosettes encircle the waist of his doublet. The rich black of his suit is offset by the broad linen collar and lace-edged cuffs—fashionable details befitting a successful cloth merchant.