# A Merry Company Making Music [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [HALS, Dirck]() - Date: 1601-1650 - Technique: Oil on oak panel, 23 x 31 cm ## Commentary Depictions of merry companies had begun at the very beginning of the seventeenth century with Esaias van de Velde, David Vinckboons and Dirck Hals' elder brother by ten years, Frans. These they set in elegant gardens or on outdoor terraces but it was Dirck Hals and Buytewech who were the first to move them indoors in the early 1620s. The present work joins the <A onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/h/hals/dirk/musician.html'\)" HREF="/html/h/hals/dirk/musician.html">Musicians</A> as one of Dirck Hals' two earliest known interiors, both dated 1623. During these early years Hals was more influenced by the <A onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/b/buytewec/merrycom.html'\)" HREF="/html/b/buytewec/merrycom.html">work of Willem Buytewech</A> than by that of his brother Frans, and indeed until 1628 he often lifted figures directly from Buytewech and inserted them into his work. <P> <TABLE ALIGN=LEFT CELLPADDING=5 BORDER=1 WIDTH=320 BGCOLOR="\#99CCCC"> <TR VALIGN=MIDDLE><TD><IMG SRC="/support/gif/listen.gif" BORDER=0 VALIGN=MIDDLE> Suggested listening \(streaming mp3, 5 minutes\):<BR><A HREF="\#" onClick="w=window.open \('/music1/17\_cent/stradella\_sinfonia.html', 'newWin', 'scrollbars=yes,status=no,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=350,height=350'\);w.opener=this;w.focus\(\);return true"><B>Alessandro Stradella: Sinfonia avanti il Barcheggio</B></A> </TD></TR></TABLE> ## Related artworks - [A Banquet]() - [A Garden Party]() - [Amusing Party in the Open Air \(detail\)]() - [An Elegant Company Playing Music]() - [Banquet Scene in a Renaissance Hall]() - [Children Playing Cards]() - [Children with a Cat]() - [Elegant Company in an Interior]() - [Interior Scene \(detail\)]() - [Interior Scene \(detail\)]() - [Interior Scene \(detail\)]() - [Interior Scene]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()