The 9 square puzzle using a portion of the fine painting "The Laughing Cavalier" by Dutch artist Frans Hals (c1582/3-1666). When the puzzle is complete, you will jump to a 16 square puzzle with the same image. You can go there directly by clicking the red square.

You can read about the artist below.









The 16 square puzzle using a portion of "The Laughing Cavalier" by Dutch artist Frans Hals. When the puzzle is complete, you will jump to a 25 square puzzle with the same image. You can go there directly by clicking the red square.










The 25 square puzzle using a portion of "The Laughing Cavalier" by Dutch artist Frans Hals. When the puzzle is complete, you will jump to a 36 square puzzle with the same image. You can go there directly by clicking the red square.










The 36 square puzzle using a portion of "The Laughing Cavalier" by Dutch artist Frans Hals. It is getting to be very difficult to complete! When the puzzle is complete, you will jump to a 49 square puzzle with the same image. You can go there directly by clicking the red square.










The 49 square puzzle using a portion of "The Laughing Cavalier" by Dutch artist Frans Hals. This puzzle is VERY hard. Congratulations if you succeed. The applet permits up to a ten square puzzle. If there is any interest in my listing a puzzle of greater difficulty, drop me a line and I'll add it in. You can read about the artist below.







The image is the major portion of "The Laughing Cavalier" by one of the great masters ~ Dutch artist Frans Hals (c 1582/3-1666). You may see the page and the detail image where I found it. However the image is on many other websites sites also in all its glory. You can see it on the ArtArchive, thanks to Mark Harden. Carol Gerten has it on her fine CGFA site here along with many more images of Frans Hals portraiture. I was indeed astonished at the number and quality of the Frans Hals images that are available on the WWW today to all who are interested. For a listing of Frans Hals resources, check here.

The original 1624 painting, 86 cm x 69 cm. in size, is in the Wallace Collection in London. I was interested to learn that we do not know today who "The Laughing Cavalier" in fact was. The painting became known by that name only some 250 years after it was painted & the name of the fine "cavalier" is lost to time. That it was painted in 1624 and that the gentleman was 26 years old at the time is known from the inscription on the painting. It would seem that the artist was ignored for a great many years. Only when Lord Hertford purchased the painting in 1865 for the then enormous sum of 51,000 francs did the art world begin to appreciate the artist's brilliance. (It would be even more interesting if someone could tell us what such a sum would be worth today so we might evaluate that cost in today's currency.) My final comment concerns the scan. The same painting in different scans looks entirely different! Check it out! The background colour is amazingly different. I do NOT know which is the more accurate rendition of the painting having never actually seen it. I used the one which to my eyes was the most pleasing.

For previous works of art that grace these pages, I have written more extensive words about the artist and the featured work. In this case, I cannot possibly improve upon the WebMuseum biography with all of its detail & links to other Frans Hals works.

The java applet that runs the puzzle is courtesy of Axel Fontaine, who lived just south of the city of Brussels in Belgium. Axel invited free use of his fine applet which you can, I hope, download here. Axel, we thank you!