Willem Coymans: Detail of right hand

Detail of right hand ; Willem Coymans (1623-1678) was a member of one of Holland's wealthiest merchant families. Their crest of oxen heads hangs on the wall, the Dutch name Coymans literally translates as "cow men." Below the shield, a Latin inscription states that Willem was twenty-two years old in 1645. Hals rarely dated his pictures. Since his few datings normally also provide the subjects' ages, the inscriptions must have been requested by the patrons to serve as genealogies. Hals was the first portraitist who consistently depicted his subjects seated sideways, with their arms hooked casua... Mehr ...