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Malle Babbe

Style of Frans Hals Dutch
Not on view
In 1872 Henry James described the painting as "dashed upon the canvas by a brush superbly confident." Hals's authorship has been discounted since the 1880s but the picture must be by a close follower, and is based upon Hals's Malle Babbe of the early 1630s (Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin) or a lost version of that composition. The title comes from an old inscription on the back of the Berlin painting and may be the nickname of a Haarlem personality. In the seventeeth century, owls were often associated with fools or vulgar behavior. A Dutch proverb, "drunk as an owl," is recalled by the woman's large tankard in the canvas in Berlin.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Malle Babbe
  • Artist: Style of Frans Hals (Dutch, second quarter 17th century)
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 29 1/2 x 24 in. (74.9 x 61 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, 1871
  • Object Number: 71.76
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

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Malle Babbe, after Frans Hals , Jules-Ferdinand Jacquemart French, Etching on chine collé

Malle Babbe, after Frans Hals

Multiple artists/makers
1871
Malle Babbe, after Frans Hals, from "Etchings of Pictures in the Metropolitan Museum New York", Jules-Ferdinand Jacquemart French, Etching; third state of four (Gonse)
Malle Babbe, after Frans Hals, from "Etchings of Pictures in the Metropolitan Museum New York"
Multiple artists/makers
1871
Malle Babbe, after Frans Hals
Multiple artists/makers
1871
Paulus Verschuur (1606–1667), Frans Hals Dutch, Oil on canvas
Paulus Verschuur (1606–1667)
Frans Hals
1643
Frans Hals (1582/83–1666), Frans Hals Dutch, Oil on wood
Frans Hals (1582/83–1666)
Frans Hals
probably 1650s

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