The
Laughing Cavalier is an
oil-on-canvas portrait by the Dutch Golden Age painter
Frans Hals, completed in 1624. The title is an invention of the
Victorian public and press, dating from its exhibition in the opening display at the
Bethnal Green Museum from 1872 to 1875, just after its arrival in England. The
Laughing Cavalier was described by art historian
Seymour Slive as "one of the most brilliant of all Baroque portraits" and has been used in several derivative works, such as the logo of
McEwan's beer, which depicts a modified version of the cavalier enjoying a glass of the drink. The painting is now housed in the
Wallace Collection in London.
Painting credit: Frans Hals