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46
The Laughing Cavalier - "Портрет молодого офицера"
Malle Babbe - "Мале Бабе"
Regentesses of the Old Man's Almshouse - "Регентши приюта для престарелых"
TASKS
I. Read the text. Mark the following statements true or false
1. Today Hals is recognized as the most brilliant portraitist.
2. Hals shows citizen-soldiers in the midst of the banquets.
3. Malle Babbe is a glittering portrait.
4. The warmth of Hals's early style is seen in the Regentesses of the Old Man's Almshouse.
5. The Laughing Cavalier is the symbol of Baroque gallantry.
6. The subjects of the Regentesses of the Old Man's Almshouse participate in a calm acceptance
of the effects of time.
II. How well have you read? Can you answer the following questions?
1. What gift was Hals blessed with?
2. What were Hals's early commissions? Why were not Hals's portraits conductive to
imaginative painting? How did Hals's predecessors compose their group portraits? Who could raise
group portraits to a level of high drama?
3. What is the Banquet of the Officers of the Saint George Guard Company noted for? What
has Hals pictured in this work of art? What ties the picture together?
4. Where is the warmth of Hals's early style seen? How old is the subject? What makes the
subject the symbol of Baroque gallantry? How did Hals interpret the Caravaggesque nowhere?
5. What is the opposite of The Laughing Cavalier? When was it painted? Whom has Hals
depicted in it?
6. In what painting did Hals show a different side of his character? How old was he at that
time? What did the painter show in this work?
III. i. Give Russian equivalents of the following phrases:
to catch the individual in a moment of action; group portraits in alignments; unerring strokes; a
moment of perception; to be blessed with the gift; effects of time; to radiate one's self-confidence;
Caravaggesque nowhere; a slashed sleeve; sketchy brushstrokes; armours proclivities; a taunting
smile; to be irradiated with light; snowy ruff; a dashing hat; devastated faces; to be conductive to;
the predecessors of the painter; show the citizen-soldiers in the midst of the banquets; to raise the
portraits to a level of high drama; to tie the picture together; a glittering portrait; militia companies;
a solemn picture; component elements.
ii. Give English equivalents of the following phrases:
опустошенные лица; быть наделенным даром; широкие мазки; сияющий портрет; лихо
заломленная шляпа; круглый плоеный жесткий воротник; стрелковые гильдии; предшествен-
ники художника; след времени; полные, средних лет мужчины; связать картину воедино;
насмешливая улыбка; изображать стрельцов в разгар веселого застолья; склонность к
военному искусству; сиять самоуверенностью; групповой портрет, построенных в шеренгу
людей; рукав с разрезами; эскизная манера письма; поздний период творчества; поднять на
уровень драмы.
iii. Make up sentences of your own with the given phrases.
iv. Arrange the following in the pairs of synonyms:
a) strokes; radiate; traditional; indicate; predecessor;
b) conventional; precursor; brushwork; shimmer; show.
IV. Here are descriptions of some of Hals's works of art. Match them up to the given titles.
1. The model was caught in the midst of a fit of insane laughter.
2. The painter had only devastated faces and white collars of the figures as component
elements.
3. The climax of the painting is the taunting smile.
4. Broad brushstrokes indicate the passage of light on colour with a flash and sparkle unknown
even to Rubens.