Frans Hals (c. 1582/83 Antwerp - 1666 Haarlem) Circumference Breast portrait of an elderly lady with a white ruff Portrait with a millstone collar and a white bonnet held by a black bow, a wide, dark waistcoat over the tight-fitting white silk jacket with fine gold brocade embroidery and corresponding buttons. The tight depiction en face and the chiaroscuro painting, influenced by the Caravaggists, with which the face is modelled in a sculptural manner, as it were, is extremely unusual. The high status of the sitter - evidently a wealthy merchant or patrician woman - is reflected in the virtuoso rendering of her jacket with its white and gold lustre effects. Oil/oak panel. Slightly convex. 54 cm x 48.2 cm. Frame. Circle of Frans Hals (ca. 1582/83 - 1666). Oil on oak panel. Slightly warped.