Laughing Cavalier

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The Laughing Cavalier (1624) is a famous painting by the Dutch Baroque artist Frans Hals. The current title is a Victorian era invention; the subject does, in fact, sport an enigmatic smile. The composition is lively and spontaneous, and despite the apparent labour involved in the gorgeous silk costume, close inspection reveals long, quick brush strokes.

The portrait is inscribed in the top right "Æ'TA SVÆ 26/A°1624", which expands to "aetatis suae 26, anno 1624" in Latin and means that the portrait was painted when the sitter was 26 and in the year 1624. The identity of the man is unknown; when the painting was acquired in 1865 by Richard Wallace's father it was simply called "Portrait of a Young Man". The painting is in the Wallace Collection in London, England.

The canvas measures 83 × 67.3 cm (32.7 × 26.5 in).

[edit] References

• Guardian Arts Feature on the Laughing Cavalier by Jonathan Jones, Saturday August 5, 2000. (Retrieved November 2005).