Frans Hals of Antwerp

Frans Hals (1582-1666) was a portrait painter with a unique style, admired for its originality and vivacity. Very little documentation of his life has been found, so this film uses an extensive montage of his canvases as the key to his story. Works by the landscape artists and still-life painters of the day help create a picture of the age in which he lived, and the programme also explains the elaborate conventions of portraiture at that time.