Artwork
A Militiaman Holding a Berkemeyer, Known as the ‘Merry Drinker’
A Militiaman Holding a Berkemeyer, Known as the ‘Merry Drinker’ is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Frans Hals. It dates from 1629 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum. Created around 1628–1630, this oil painting measures roughly 81 × 66.
About this work
Overview
Created around 1628–1630, this oil painting measures roughly 81 × 66.5 cm and is held by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. It depicts a jovial figure, a militiaman, clutching a small drinking glass while a half‑filled wine vessel rests on a nearby table. The work’s informal pose and direct gaze have made it a frequently referenced example of Dutch 17th‑century portraiture.
Subject & Meaning
The sitter, dressed in a wide‑brimmed hat, a white ruff, and a brown coat cinched with a gold‑trimmed belt, appears caught in a moment of merriment after a drink. The composition suggests a fleeting, candid glimpse rather than a formal representation, inviting viewers to consider the social customs of camaraderie and leisure among civic militia members of the period.
Technique & Style
Hals employs a loose, energetic brushwork that builds up layers of paint, especially on the face and hands, where the impasto creates a tactile surface. This approach yields a sense of immediacy, allowing light to flash across the textured strokes and giving the figure a vivid, almost three‑dimensional presence within the flat canvas.
History & Provenance
The canvas entered the Rijksmuseum’s collection in the early 20th century, where it has remained on public display. Its attribution to Frans Hals has been secure since the work’s first scholarly examinations, though its exact function—whether a genre scene or an individual portrait—has been debated by art historians.
Context
The painting emerges from the Dutch Golden Age, a time when civic militia groups were prominent social institutions. Hals’s portrayal reflects the era’s interest in capturing everyday life with realism and spontaneity, contrasting with the more formal, idealized portraiture common elsewhere in Europe at the time.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Frans Hals the Elder (UK: , US: ; Dutch: ; c. 1582 – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He lived and worked in Haarlem, a city in which the local authority of the day frowned on religious painting in places…
