People call me The Laughing Cavalier, and I am the international man of mystery at the Wallace Collection in London. No one knows precisely who I am, and whilst people refer to me as laughing, I am, in fact, smiling under those magnificent whiskers of mine. I like to think of myself as the Mona Lisa of London. Want to know more?
Take a closer look at me. Come on. That’s the wonderful thing about the Wallace Collection: you can practically whisper sweet nothings in my delicate ear.
Who is the Laughing Cavalier?
I was born in 1624, which makes me more than 400 years old, but I was frozen in oil at the tender age of 26 by the Dutch Baroque painter Frans Hals. I am from Haarlem in northwest Holland.
The eminent Pieter Biesboer (curator of the Frans Hals Museum until 2009) believes I may be Tieleman Roosterman, a wealthy textile merchant who lived in Haarlem. Some hint that I might be a betrothal portrait. A novel by Baroness Orczy (of Scarlet Pimpernel fame) suggests that I am an ancestor of Sir Percy Blakeney.
From a Paris auction to London
Richard Seymour-Conway, the 4th Marquess of Hertford, bid for me against Baron James de Rothschild at an 1865 auction in Paris, paying more than six times the sales estimate. I was then known as Portrait d’un Homme (Portrait of a Man). The Marquess kept me in his Parisian home before relocating the two of us to London.
The Victorians referred to me as A Cavalier when I was exhibited at the Bethnal Green Museum between 1872 and 1875. The museum, incidentally, is now called Young V&A, and I thoroughly recommend a visit when you can.
I was a real crowd pleaser, becoming one of the most famous old master paintings in the country, and facsimiles of me popped up all over. In 1888, I was shown off at the Royal Academy, where I finally became known as the Laughing Cavalier.
Where the Laughing Cavalier hangs
My final resting place is here at the Wallace Collection. Visitors have been gazing in wonder at me since 1900. It was then known simply as Hertford House, the Marquess’s London home. He left the house and all its contents to Richard Wallace, thought to be his illegitimate son, and I now belong to the nation, courtesy of Wallace’s wife, who bequeathed the house and its phenomenal contents to the country. You can read more in my 10 reasons to visit the Wallace Collection.
You can find me in the Great Gallery on the first floor, a dazzling room wrapped in crimson silk and known as one of the most important picture galleries in Europe. I share space with Van Dyck, Titian, Murillo, Velázquez and, my favourite, Thomas Lawrence’s striking portrait of George IV (looking a tad slimmer than he was in real life, if I’m honest).
Let’s be clear about something. I am the star of the gallery. People come from all over the world to view my swagger. The shoe designer Manolo Blahnik has even paired my flamboyance with some delicious Puss ’n Boots style footwear.
My outfit and my tash
A true fashionista, I am wearing one of my favourite outfits for Mr Hals. Check out my white ruff and the refined lace around my sleeves. The colourful embroidery on my jacket is an ode to the pleasure and pain of love, and includes a symbolic composition of bees, arrows and lovers’ knots.
Don’t you just love my tash? I reckon Groucho, Poirot and Dalí modelled their handlebars after mine, ja?
More Frans Hals paintings in London
If you like me, you’ll like my maker. You can see Frans Hals’ portrait of Pieter van den Broecke at Kenwood House, and his Young Man holding a Skull (Vanitas) at the National Gallery, which has further Hals paintings nearby.
LEFT: Pieter van den Broecke, Frans Hals, Kenwood House. RIGHT: Young Man holding a Skull (Vanitas), Frans Hals, National Gallery. Photos: Wikimedia Commons.
Visit the Laughing Cavalier
You can catch the Laughing Cavalier in all his magnificence at the Wallace Collection, Hertford House, Manchester Square, London W1U 3BN. Entry is free.
Sources: the Wallace Collection and Wikipedia.