Merrymakers at Shrovetide

Merrymakers at Shrovetide

Merrymakers at Shrovetide

Shrovetide, now better known as Mardi Gras, is the traditional period of indulgence before the fasting and self-discipline of Lent. In the Netherlands, it was also the occasion for theatrical performances by the painters’ guilds. Here, Hals depicts two stock figures from these plays, Hans Worst and Pekelharing, flanking a richly dressed young woman who is probably a boy in drag. Still life elements litter the foreground, evoking both the traditional foods of the festival and an abundance of erotic innuendo.

Catalogue Entry

This picture was probably painted about 1616–17, and is one of the artist's earliest surviving works. That Hals visited his native Antwerp in 1616 suggests that the picture's seemingly Flemish qualities—the bright palette, broad brushwork, and impulsive rhythms over the entire surface—may have been inspired partly by contemporaneous pictures by Jacob Jordaens (1593–1678) and other Antwerp artists. Its manner of execution and level of quality are entirely consistent with autograph works by Hals.
The subject is Vastenavond (Eve of Lent, or Shrove Tuesday). Known elsewhere as Mardi Gras, the occasion is celebrated with a carnival devoted to foolish behavior and popular foods such as pancakes and sausages. Slive's suggestion (1970) that the central figure is a boy in drag is supported by the hairstyle, which looks peculiar for a woman of the time. It seems likely that, with his laurel wreath, the youth has been crowned "queen" for the day and dressed in overly extravagant attire. He is flanked by two familiar characters of the comic stage: on the left, Pekelharing (Pickled Herring), and at right, Hans Worst (John Sausage). These names were assigned to stock figures in satirical comedies, which were performed by chambers of rhetoricians, or rederijkers, usually in private rooms. The organizations were exclusively male, and the humor often coarse. Hals himself was a "second member" or "friend" of a Haarlem chamber of rhetoric; this painting must have been inspired by his familiarity with rhetoricians, and was perhaps intended for a chamber of rhetoric, an individual rederijker, or an enthusiast of bawdy plays.
In any case, the subject and symbols were too lewd for the average Haarlem household. Pekelharing wears a garland of Shrovetide victuals, including salted herring and mussels, which symbolized male and female genitals. Eggs, also present in the garland, were considered an aphrodisiac and were a sign of male prowess or, when cracked (as here), impotence. The figure wears a pig's trotter, symbol of gluttony, and holds a foxtail, emblem of foolishness. Sausages dangle from Hans Worst's cap and are also on the table, which is strewn with an array of items alluding to "male" and "female" forms, including the bagpipes and open tankard.
The composition inspired numerous copies and variants, including a painted version of the entire design by Dirck Hals, signed and dated 1637 (Institut Néerlandais, Fondation Custodia, Fritz Lugt Collection, Paris). A similar composition was formerly in the Metzger collection, New York. Another amplification, with the central figure transformed, is now in the Instituut Collectie Nederland. Dirck Hals included the central figure group in his Banquet in the Garden (Musée du Louvre, Paris) and Merry Company (Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt), both of about 1620. Mathys van den Bergh made a pen drawing (signed and dated 1660; Institut Néerlandais, Fondation Custodia, Fritz Lugt Collection, Paris) after the painting. The drawing is inscribed on the back Vastenavonts-gasten. Willem Buytewech made chalk drawings after the heads of the two principal male figures (about 1616; Institut Néerlandais, Fondation Custodia, Fritz Lugt Collection, Paris).
Cleaning in 1951 uncovered the six heads in the background, which had been painted out at an unknown date. The three painted copies and the drawing by Van den Bergh all include these background heads.

[2011; adapted from Liedtke 2007]

Provenance

sale, Amsterdam, June 5, 1765, no. 51, as "Een ryke Ordinantie van veel Beelden halver Lyf te zien, verbeeldende een Vasten-Avond vreugd, zeer kragtig op doek, door Frans Hals: hoog 36, breet 49 duimen," for fl. 35; Monsieur Cocret, Paris (by 1874–at least 1883); [Kleinberger, Paris and New York, until 1907]; [D. S. Hess and Company, New York, 1907; sold for $89,102 to Altman]; Benjamin Altman, New York (1907–d. 1913)

Artist:
Frans Hals (Dutch, Antwerp 1582/83–1666 Haarlem)
Date:
1658
Medium:
Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
51 3/4 x 39 1/4 in. (131.4 x 99.7 cm)
Classification:
Paintings
Credit Line:
Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913

Copyright Image
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