The Merry Drinker

In the pictureAgainst an empty gray-brown background, a man in a very broad-brimmed black hat is seen from the waist up. With flushed red cheeks, he laughs with his mouth open, raising one hand with fingers spread toward the left of the picture, while his other hand, at the lower right, holds a glass of clear drink. He wears a white lace collar at his neck, ocher clothes and a silver sash, and a round medallion on a chain hangs on his chest. In the background to the right of his face is a monogram signature combining the initials F and H.

BackgroundFrans Hals was a 17th-century portrait painter active in Haarlem, renowned for laying down quick strokes without hiding the brush marks, so that his sitters look caught in a moment of movement. The museum ranks this painting as the work in which his bold, rough style reached its peak. The brushstrokes crisscross the surface, giving both the impression that it was painted very quickly and a sense of movement. From his clothing, the man is presumed to be a member of the civic guard or a soldier, and he seems to have just raised his glass to toast the viewer. It was bought for the museum at auction in 1816.

Puzzle tipThe black hat is the most distinct mass, taking up a large part of the upper picture, so fitting it first fixes the places of the face and collar. Then continue with the pointed edges of the white lace collar, the red face and the fingers spread to the left. The glass and white cuff at the lower right are also good reference points. The gray-brown background is lighter around the head and darker toward the edges, so divide it by brightness, and fill the ocher clothing by watching the direction of the diagonal brushstrokes. The recommended piece count is the Normal level, about 48 pieces.