Laughing Cavalier Laughing Cavalier The Laughing Cavalier (1624) is a portrait by the Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals in the Wallace Collection in London, which has been described as "one of the most brilliant of all Baroque portraits". The title is an invention of the Victorian public and press, dating from its exhibition in the opening display at the Bethnal Green Museum in 1872–75, just after its arrival in England, after which it was regularly reproduced as a print, and became among of the best known old master paintings in Britain. The unknown subject is in fact not laughing, but can
Cavalier hat it was later replaced in fashion by the tricorne. Cavalier hat A cavalier hat is a variety of wide-brimmed hat popular in the seventeenth century. These hats were often made from felt, and usually trimmed with an ostrich plume. They were often cocked up or had one side of the brim pinned to the side of the crown of the hat (similar to the slouch hat) which was then decorated with feathers. Cavalier hats get their name from supporters of King Charles I during the English Civil War, known as cavaliers, noted for wearing extravagant clothing. It was a common