Artwork
Portrait of Petrus Scriverius
Portrait of Petrus Scriverius is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Frans Hals. It dates from 1626 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts Petrus Scriverius, a Dutch scholar and literary figure, rendered by Frans Hals in 1626 as a small-scale oil portrait on panel.
The painting depicts Petrus Scriverius, a Dutch scholar and literary figure, rendered by Frans Hals in 1626 as a small-scale oil portrait on panel. As a bust-length portrait, the work belongs to the tradition of learned-sitter imagery produced in Haarlem, where Hals was active, presenting Scriverius not through allegorical attributes but through the direct, sober characterization typical of Hals's mature portrait practice.
The portrait's meaning lies in its role as a personal commemoration of an intellectual contemporary, capturing Scriverius's likeness with the restrained naturalism for which Hals was known. Its later provenance through collectors such as Eugène Secrétan and Henry Osborne Havemeyer, before entering the Metropolitan Museum of Art, reflects the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century taste for small Dutch cabinet portraits of distinguished cultural figures.
Technique & Style
The portrait of Petrus Scriverius is executed in oil paint on a wooden panel support, a combination characteristic of early seventeenth-century Dutch portrait practice. The work is a small-format panel, measuring 22.2 cm in height by 16.5 cm in width, consistent with the intimate scale of Hals's cabinet pictures of Haarlem scholars and literary figures. The handling reflects the loose, fluid brushwork associated with Frans Hals's mature portrait style, in which the sitter is rendered with rapid, economical strokes that convey both likeness and character rather than fine surface detail.
Stylistically, the composition adheres to the conventions of the bust-length portrait, presenting the subject directly against a neutral ground so that attention remains focused on the face and bearing of the scholar.
No information regarding the current condition of the painting, such as evidence of restoration, damage, or surface wear, is provided in the available sources.
History & Provenance
The Portrait of Petrus Scriverius was painted by Frans Hals in 1626 in Haarlem, executed in oil on panel. The documented ownership chain begins with the Swiss art dealer and collector Eugène Secrétan, whose collection was dispersed through the Secretan sale in 1889. The painting subsequently passed to John Waterloo Wilson and then to the American industrialist Henry Osborne Havemeyer and his wife Louisine Havemeyer. From the Havemeyer collection it entered the holdings of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains.
The Portrait of Petrus Scriverius is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Created in 1626, the oil painting on panel measures 22.2 cm in height and 16.5 cm in width. The work's provenance includes ownership by Eugène Secrétan, John Waterloo Wilson, and the couple Henry Osborne and Louisine Havemeyer before entering the museum's holdings. Historically, the painting was featured in the Secrétan sale of 1889.
Overview
Frans Hals the Elder completed this oil painting, Portrait of Petrus Scriverius, in 1626, during the flourishing period known as the Dutch Golden Age. The artwork captures the likeness of a notable scholar and writer from Haarlem's intellectual community. This significant example of Hals's portraiture is now part of the collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, representing a key moment in 17th-century Dutch art.
Context
Frans Hals established his career in Haarlem, a vibrant cultural center during the Dutch Golden Age, where he became a highly sought-after portraitist. His clientele included affluent citizens and various civic organizations, who commissioned him to immortalize their images. This demand for individual and group portraits reflects the era's burgeoning middle class and their desire for personal representation, a trend Hals masterfully served.
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 of…
Portrait of Johannes Acronius
Portrait of a Man
Portrait of Jan Brant
Portrait of a Man
Portrait of Theodorus Schrevelius, Rector of the Latin School in Leiden
Portrait of Nicolaes Grevinckhoven (1577-1632)
Portrait of Andries Bicker
Portrait of Bartholomeus van der Wiere (1534-1603)
Portrait of Cornelis Matelieff the Younger, Director of the Rotterdam Chamber of the Dutch East India Company, elected 1602