"meta_description": "Frans Hals – mistrz portretów i scen rodzajowych z Złotej Ery Holandii! Znany z plastycznego stylu, uchwycenia charakteru i życia w obrazach. Odkryj jego ikoniczne dzieła, takie jak 'Śmiejący się Rycerz'."
In 1872 Henry James described the painting as "dashed upon the canvas by a brush superbly confident." Hals"s authorship has been discounted since the 1880s but the picture must be by a close follower, and is based upon Hals"s Malle Babbe of the early 1630s (Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin) or a lost version of that composition. The title comes from an old inscription on the back of the Berlin painting and may be the nickname of a Haarlem personality. In the seventeeth century, owls were often associated with fools or vulgar behavior. A Dutch proverb, "drunk as an owl," is recalled by the woman"s large tankard in the canvas in Berlin.