Frans Hals

A Portrait of a Man Holding a Skull

Haarlem, Holland, around 1612

Oil on wood

94 x 72.5 cm

This portrait was painted as a pair with the image of the man’s wife appearing to the right.

The man has not been identified, in spite of the coat of arms, but the inscription records that he was 60 years old. The double portrait celebrates the couple’s wealth and status, but the skull and the inscription ‘ITA MORI’ indicate a broader truth. Worldly possessions cannot hide the fact that we are doomed to ‘To Perish Thus’, from living flesh and blood to whitened bones.

The 400-year-old portrait was separated from its pair for nearly two centuries until they were brought back together for The Credit Suisse Exhibition: Frans Hals in 2023. They now reside in different collections: The Barber Institute of Fine Arts and the Devonshire Collections at Chatsworth. Larry Keith, Head of Conservation at National Gallery met Alice Martin from Chatsworth House to discuss how the team conserved two marriage portraits by Frans Hals in the below video: