Portrait of a man with his hand on his chest

Frans Hals's Portrait of a Man with his Hand on his Chest of around 1640 uses the unusual gesture of self-indication — the hand touching the chest suggesting either self-presentation or emotional emphasis — to create a portrait of particular psychological directness. The gesture's ambiguity between formal self-presentation and personal communication creates the characteristic Hals effect of a figure caught between social performance and private expression, the portrait simultaneously document and encounter.

The hand-on-chest gesture adds visual interest and symbolic meaning to the composition, the hand painted with characteristic bravura — a few decisive strokes suggest the fingers and the fabric beneath them. The face above is rendered with the direct, vivid handling that distinguishes all of Hals's mature portraits.