Portrait of a woman, possibly Cornelia van der Meer

Around 1640 Haarlem was one of the richest cities in the young Dutch Republic, grown fat on beer and linen, and its merchant families liked to have themselves set down on canvas. Frans Hals was the man they came to. He was close to 60 by now, and his portraits had quieted into sober blacks and whites, the palette a Calvinist town preferred. This is one of those late works, a well-to-do woman in a dark gown and a crisp white cap and ruff, painted with the quick, loose touch Hals never gave up. For a long time she has been called Cornelia van der Meer, though the museum still keeps a question mark beside the name. Look closely at the collar and you can see how few strokes it took him to make the linen look starched.