Portrait of a man, possibly Palamedes

In 1625 Haarlem was one of the busiest painting towns in Europe, and Frans Hals kept a steady line of well-dressed townsmen coming through his studio. This one is unusually small, an oak panel barely larger than a sheet of paper, yet the man fills it completely, turned three-quarters with one hand set on his hip so he seems to lean out toward you. For a long time he was thought to be Palamedes Palamedesz, a young Haarlem painter of small battle and guardroom scenes, then about twenty. The Gemaeldegalerie in Berlin now says the face cannot be securely named. What stays certain is the speed of the brush, the collar and cuffs laid in with a few quick strokes that still read as crisp linen.