Brustbild eines Mannes

1610

Joins the Guild of St Luke and becomes a restorer

In 1610 Hals becomes a member of the Haarlem Guild of St Luke and starts working as a restorer for the town council; from then on he is allowed to take on pupils.

1615

His first wife, Anneke, dies

In 1615, shortly after the birth of their third child, Anneke Harmensdochter dies; of the three children only Harmen survives infancy, and one dies before Hals's second marriage. Older stories of Hals abusing his first wife, as the biographer Seymour Slive has shown, concern another Haarlem resident of the same name: at the time of those charges Anneke was already dead.

February 1617

Spaarndam: the wedding to Lysbeth Reyniers

In February 1617 Hals marries Lysbeth Reyniers, with whom he will live for almost half a century. The wedding takes place in Spaarndam, and a few days later their daughter Sara is born.

1644

Chairman of the Guild of St Luke

In 1644 Hals becomes chairman of the Haarlem Guild of St Luke, thirty-four years after joining it.

1652

Sells his belongings to pay the baker

Creditors take Hals to court several times, and in 1652 he sells his belongings to settle a debt with a baker; the inventory of the seized property lists only three mattresses and bolsters, an armoire, a table and five pictures — by himself, his sons, Van Mander and Maarten van Heemskerck.

26. august 1666

Died