Art! Art! Art! › Works

A Militiaman Holding a Berkemeyer, Known as the ‘Merry Drinker’

Frans Hals, 1620s

Frans Hals's A Militiaman Holding a Berkemeyer, Known as the ‘Merry Drinker’ belongs to the Rijksmuseum. Painted in the 1620s, it shows a man turning toward us with a raised hand and a glass of wine, captured with the quick, open brushwork for which Hals is known.

Where to see it

The painting is in the collection of the Rijksmuseum. Displays can change because of rehangs, conservation or loans, so check the Rijksmuseum's official website for current display status before you visit.

What to look for in person

The gesture that reaches out of the frame

Start with the man's raised hand. It is turned toward the viewer, fingers loosely open, as if he has just greeted someone or is about to speak. Hals foreshortens the hand so it seems to come forward from the picture surface, and the figure's turned head and parted lips add to the sense of a moment caught mid-action. Stand roughly where the sitter seems to be looking and notice how the composition is built to address you directly rather than a figure inside the scene.

Brushwork you can follow stroke by stroke

Move close and look at the collar, the hand and the face. Hals did not blend his paint into smooth surfaces; he left individual strokes visible, laid down quickly and with confidence. Highlights on the knuckles and nose are often single touches of lighter paint. Then step back a few paces: the separate marks pull together into skin, fabric and light. Comparing the two viewing distances is one of the most rewarding ways to spend time with this painting and helps explain Hals's reputation.

The berkemeyer glass and the details around it

The title names the object in the man's other hand: a berkemeyer, a type of drinking glass with a wide, flaring bowl. Look at how Hals suggests the transparency of the glass and the wine inside it with only a few reflections and tonal shifts rather than detailed outlines. Notice too the medallion hanging on a chain at the man's chest and the broad-brimmed hat, which frame the face and help balance the composition against the raised hand.

About the painting

Frans Hals was a portrait painter of the Dutch Golden Age, celebrated for a lively, rapid technique that gives his sitters an unusual sense of movement and presence. A Militiaman Holding a Berkemeyer, Known as the ‘Merry Drinker’ dates from the 1620s, a period in which Hals produced a number of animated, informal half-length figures that sit somewhere between portraiture and scenes of everyday life. The canvas measures 81 cm high by 66.5 cm wide, so it is a moderately sized picture that rewards both close inspection and a view from across the room. The long title combines a description of the figure, a militiaman holding a berkemeyer glass, with the nickname by which the work has long been known, the ‘Merry Drinker’. That nickname reflects how most viewers respond to it: the flushed face, the turned head and the open hand create an impression of conviviality. Yet the painting is more than a cheerful image. Its interest lies in how Hals uses paint itself, leaving strokes visible and trusting the viewer's eye to assemble them into a convincing figure. This approach was distinctive in its own time and has been widely admired by later painters and audiences. When you visit, give yourself time to look at the picture from several distances. Up close, the surface reads as a pattern of brisk marks; further away, it becomes a figure who seems about to speak to you. Today the work belongs to the Rijksmuseum, where it can be seen alongside the museum's wider holdings of Dutch art, subject to current display arrangements.

Key facts

More by Frans Hals

• Jester with lute — Louvre Museum

Sources

• Wikidata Q650635
• www.rijksmuseum.nl