The Laughing Cavalier

Frans Hals

1624 · Oil on canvas · The Wallace Collection, London

Size2:3 ratio

Frame

$59Unframed print · made to order

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Complete the setHangs well with these two

This print

The Laughing Cavalier

La Bohémienne (The Gypsy Girl)

Malle Babbe

3 × $59 at 16 × 24 in, unframed = $177 → $159.30 as a set · 10% included · free shipping

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Giclée-printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper

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About this work

Artist: Frans Hals (1582–1666)
Year: 1624
Medium: Oil on canvas
Original size: 83 × 67.3 cm
Collection: The Wallace Collection, London
Movement: Dutch Golden Age

A young man of twenty-six turns toward the viewer with a hand on his hip, a tilted black hat and a moustache swept upward into what reads as a smile; the inscription at top right gives his age and the year, 1624. His doublet is embroidered with bees, arrows, flaming cornucopias and lovers' knots, emblems of the pleasures and pains of love, along with symbols of fortune and strength, all rendered in long, quick strokes that look laboured only from a distance. Who he was is unknown; the cloth merchant Tieleman Roosterman has been proposed. He is neither laughing nor a cavalier. The title was coined by the Victorian public after the picture went on show at Bethnal Green in 1872, soon after the 4th Marquess of Hertford had outbid Baron James de Rothschild for it in Paris in 1865. It remains at Hertford House with The Wallace Collection in London, which has never renamed it.

This exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. The original is in the public domain.

Details & materials

• Exhibition poster — original, drawn in-house • Heavyweight matte fine-art paper, giclée printed at 300 DPI • Sizes: 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in; 12×18 and 16×24 and 24×36 also available framed in black or natural wood • Made to order; colours may vary slightly from screen

Shipping & returns

Produced in 2–4 business days, then shipped from the facility nearest you. Delivery is typically 3–6 business days (US/UK/EU) and 5–12 worldwide. Because each print is made to order we don't take change-of-mind returns, but if it arrives damaged or flawed we'll reprint or refund it — no return needed. Full policy →

Is this the whole painting, or a crop?

The whole work, uncropped. The exhibition-poster edition sets the complete image above typography designed in-house.

Is The Laughing Cavalier in the public domain?

Yes. Frans Hals (1582–1666) died more than 70 years ago and the work was published before 1929, so the painting itself is public domain. This print is a reproduction made from a high-resolution scan of the original, which is held by The Wallace Collection.

What is it printed on?

Heavyweight matte fine-art paper with pigment inks, made to order in 12×18, 16×24 and 24×36 inches; the two larger sizes are also offered framed. Colours are matched to the scan, not brightened.

When was The Laughing Cavalier painted, and in what medium?

The Laughing Cavalier dates from 1624 and was made in oil on canvas; the original measures 83 × 67.3 cm.

What size works above a sofa or bed?

For a standard three-seat sofa or a queen bed, 24×36 inches reads as a single statement piece; 16×24 suits a narrower wall or a pairing. The print's proportions follow the original, so a landscape-format painting is wider than it is tall.

About this design

A museum-exhibition poster of Frans Hals's The Laughing Cavalier — The Laughing Cavalier — a swaggering young man in an embroidered doublet and wide black hat, moustache turned up in a half-smile — shown whole and uncropped beneath gallery typography. Portraits of the Dutch Golden Age, styled as a blockbuster exhibition print. A gallery-style exhibition poster: a celebrated public-domain artwork shown whole and uncropped beneath original exhibition typography set in-house — printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper. Three sizes (12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in); the 16×24 and 24×36 are also offered framed. Part of the Madten Exhibition Posters Collection. — — — Printed to order and shipped by our production partner, Gelato.

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The Madten promise

Gallery-grade archival giclée. Rich pigment inks on heavyweight fine-art paper (or gallery-wrapped canvas) — built to last, not a poster-shop print.

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free. Every piece is made to order; if it shows up damaged or flawed we remake it, no return needed.

Free worldwide shipping. Made & shipped from the facility nearest you — most orders arrive in ~4–8 business days.

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