A Family Group in a Landscape
- Artist: Frans Hals
- Date: about 1647-50
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Museum: The National Gallery
- Collection record: The National Gallery website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is "A Family Group in a Landscape" painted by Frans Hals. The painting depicts a large family with a mother and father surrounded by their seven children, a nursemaid holding the latest baby. There are two centres of attention among the sitters, formed around the two youngest children.
The arrangement has been carefully composed by Hals, despite appearing spontaneous. You can see a clear hierarchy between the sexes, with the men forming the core of the family group. The father sits centre stage, flanked by his two older sons, while the boys' poses illustrate their relative maturity.
Notice how the youngest boy is playing with a rose, distracting his baby sibling, and his older brother seems to want to join in but is too old for such games. On the right, you'll see the eldest son standing behind his parents, suggesting a new hierarchy to come.
The way Hals has arranged the family members creates a sense of movement and interaction. You can almost feel like you're part of this moment, especially with the middle sister looking out of the picture, catching your eye as she reaches into her basket. The style of the costumes suggests that it was probably painted in the late 1640s.
The background landscape is actually by another artist, possibly Pieter de Molijn or Reyer Claesz. Suycker, and may have been added after the figures were completed. This collaboration was common practice among Dutch and Flemish artists of the seventeenth century.
See it in person
A Family Group in a Landscape hangs in The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
