In the first episode of ‘Frans Hals Paintings—The Podcast’, I step inside the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam to confront my favorite painting by the artist, which hangs in the ‘Gallery of Honor’, which also houses Rembrandt’s ‘The Nightwatch’ and Vermeer’s ‘The Milkmaid’. The painting discussed in this episode is entitled ‘Portrait of a Couple, Probably Isaac Abrahamsz Massa and Beatrix van der Laen’, dating from c. 1622. The painting has long been attributed to Hals, and is catalogued by many of the artist's connoisseurs over the years—including by Seymour Slive (1920-2014), in his publication from 1974, within which it is number 17. It is the only painting by the artist to show a couple, which is also why it has long been thought to be a marriage portrait. It is one of only four other family portraits by the artist to have survived the test of time, and it came into the collection of the Rijksmuseum, in 1852. Join me as I explain what makes this painting by Frans Hals so unique amongst the paintings in his oeuvre; what makes its composition so seductive and entrancing; and therefore, exciting to spend time viewing in person, in Amsterdam.

You can learn more about the painting over at the website of the Rijksmuseum.

You can find John on X @johnbezold and at his website ⁠⁠⁠johnbezold.com⁠⁠⁠.

'Frans Hals Paintings—The Podcast' is published by Semicolon-Press.