Cleveland Museum of Art

Portrait of Tieleman Roosterman

Frans Hals

Date

1634

Medium

oil on canvas

Culture

Netherlands

Department

European Painting and Sculpture

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

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. Roosterman may have ordered this portrait--and one of his wife--to commemorate their wedding in 1631.

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