A Party at Table
- Artist: Dirck Hals
- Date: 1626
- Medium: oil on wood
- Museum: The National Gallery
- Collection record: The National Gallery website
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About this artwork
This is "A Party at Table" by Dirck Hals. Painted in 1626, this oil on wood painting showcases the artist's specialty - scenes of people enjoying themselves, or 'merry companies'. The group in the painting wear fashionable clothing that contrasts with the sombre attire depicted in many Dutch portraits of the time. Some of the colourful costumes are quite extravagant, and might hint at potentially excessive behaviour.
Note how the young man on the right holds a golden drinking cup delicately, while the waiter notes down what has been consumed. The crunched up tablecloth suggests the meal is finished. A large map hangs on the wall to the left, and an open door gives a view of a landscape with trees between it and the framed painting to the right.
Dirck Hals was influenced by his brother Frans, who championed quick and lively brushwork. Dirck adapted this technique for his own small-scale genre paintings, using areas where he worked wet-in-wet or made use of the beigegroundcoming through in some cases. The partly visible painting in the background is likely a scene from a biblical story, possibly hinting at an underlying moralising message.
See it in person
A Party at Table 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.
