Portrait of a Married Couple, Likely Isaac Abrahamsz Massa and Beatrix van der Laen

oil on canvas, c. 1622

It was rare for a married couple to be portrayed lifesize and together in a single painting, and even more so in such an intimate and joyful manner. The patron would have had to have been receptive to such innovation. The close friendship between Hals and the newlywed couple, presumably Isaac Abrahamsz Massa and Beatrix van der Laen, likely played a crucial role in facilitating the creation of this audacious portrait.

Artwork typepainting
Object numberSK-A-133
Dimensionsheight 140 cm x width 166.5 cm
Physical characteristicsolieverf op doek

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Portrait of a Married Couple, Likely Isaac Abrahamsz Massa and Beatrix van der Laen

Identification

Title(s)
- Portrait of a Married Couple, Likely Isaac Abrahamsz Massa and Beatrix van der Laen
- Marriage Portrait of Isaac Abrahamsz Massa (1586-1643) and Beatrix van der Laen (1592-1639), married in Haarlem on 25 April 1622
- Portrait of a Couple in a Landscape, probably Isaac Abrahamsz Massa (1586-1643) and Beatrix van der Laen (1592-1639)
Former title
Marriage Portrait of Isaac Abrahamsz Massa (1586-1643) and Beatrix van der Laen (1592-1639), married in Haarlem on 25 April 1622
Object type
Object number
SK-A-133
Description
It was rare for a married couple to be portrayed lifesize and together in a single painting, and even more so in such an intimate and joyful manner. The patron would have had to have been receptive to such innovation. The close friendship between Hals and the newlywed couple, presumably Isaac Abrahamsz Massa and Beatrix van der Laen, likely played a crucial role in facilitating the creation of this audacious portrait.
Part of catalogue
Catalogue reference
M. Thierry de Bye Dolleman en O. Schutte, 'Het Haarlemse geslacht Van der Laen', De Nederlandse Leeuw 86 (1969), p. 328 (afb.)

Creation

Creation
painter: Frans Hals
Dating
c. 1622
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Material and technique

Physcial description
olieverf op doek
Material
Dimensions
height 140 cm x width 166.5 cm

This work is about

Person
Subject
Place

Acquisition and rights

Acquisition
purchase 1851-11-25
Ownership
Copyright
Public domain
Provenance
...; sale, Jan Six (1618-1700), Lord of Vromade and Wimmenum, Amsterdam (J.P. Zomer), 6 April 1702, no. 89 (`Man en Vrouw, leevensgroote van Frans Hals´), fl. 32, to his widow Margaretha Tulp (1634-1709);{Copy collection Six.} ? estate inventory, Jan Six (1618-1700) and Margaretha Tulp (1634-1709), Amsterdam, 6 January 1710, in the large side room (`Beelden in een lantschap van F. Hals, fl. 18´);{GAA, NA 4845, fols. 719-96; GPI, N-431.} by descent to Jonkheer Hendrik Six, Lord of Hillegom (1790-1847); his sale, Amsterdam (De Vries et al.), 25 November 1851, no. 15, fl. 600, to Roos, for the museum

Documentation

- M. Thierry de Bye Dolleman en O. Schutte, 'Het Haarlemse geslacht Van der Laen', De Nederlandse Leeuw 86 (1969), p. 328 (afb.)
- M. Kahr, 'Rembrandt and Delilah', The Art Bulletin 55 (1973), p. 253 (noot 44).
- J.A. Leerink, 'Een Nederlansche carthograaph in Rusland : Amsterdam-Moskou in de 17de eeuw', Phoenix I (1946) p. 1-7.
- Six, Oud Holland (1893), p. 101.
- A. van der Linde, Isaac Massa van Haarlem : een historische studie, Amsterdam 1864.
- J. Keuning, 'Isaac Massa (1586-1643)', Imago Mundi : a review of early cartography X (1953), p. 65 e.v.
- Jaarverslag Rijksmuseum 1923, p. 14 [lijsten werden verworven, anderen werden pasklaar gemaakt, 'speciaal valt hier te noemen de in hout gesneden baroklijst dit thans om het echtpaar van Frans Hals een goed effect maakt']
- B.P.J. Broos, 'Rembrandt's portrait of a Pole and his horse', Simiolus (1974) 7, p. 195, 198.
- J.L.A.A.M. van Rijckevorsel, 'De beide portretten van Isaac Abrahamsz. Massa op de Frans Hals tentoonstelling', Historia III (1937), p. 175.
- E. de Jongh, ''t Gotsche krulligh mall : de houding tegenover de gotiek in het zeventiende-eeuwse Holland', Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 24 (1973), p. 88 (noot 20).
- Arts, New York 2002, cat.nr. 39 [portret van Frans Hals en zijn vrouw door Gerrit Postma]; kaartje mevr. Six; foto's.
- I. Massa, Histoire des guerres de la Moscovie (1601-1610), Brussel 1866 [met annotaties van Michel Obolensky en A. van der Linde].
- E. de Jongh en P.J. Vinken, 'Frans Hals als voorzetter van een emblematische traditie : bij het huwelijksportret van Isaac Massa en Beatrix van der Laen', Oud Holland LXXVI (1961), p. 117-152.
- F. Suzman Jowell, 'Thoré-Bürger and the revival of Frans Hals', The Art Bulletin LVI (1974), p. 107, 109-111 (afb. 7)
- H. van de Waal, 'Frans Hals : het echtpaar', Openbaar Kunstbezit V (1961) 25.
- Inzoomer object op zaal, 2013 (Nederlands/English).
- S. Slive, 'A proposed reconstruction of a family portrait by Frans Hals', Miscellanea I.Q. van Regteren Altena 16-V-1969, uitgegeven door Hessel Miedema, Robert W. Scheller en Pieter J.J. van Thiel; bibliografie door Else van der Vossen-Delbrück, 1969, p. 115 (afb.)
- W.R. Valentiner, '...', Art in America XXIII (1935), p. 90-95.
- M. Boot, 'Über Willem van Heythuysen, seinen Nachlass und die symbolische bedeutung der Porträts von Frans Hals in München', Panthéon XXI (1973), p. 422.
- 'De favoriet... van Peter Mookhoek', De Rijksmuseum Kunstkrant 21 (1996) nr. 1, p. 16-17.
- J. Kiers, 'Uitgelijnd : Huwelijksportret van Isaac Abrahamsz Massa en Beatrix van de Laen', Rijksmuseum Kunstkrant 25 (1999) nr. 2, p. 18-19.

Related objects

Persistent URL

To refer to this object, please use the following persistent URL:
https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200109346