St. John, by Frans Hals

St. John is a painting by the Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals, painted in 1625 and now in the Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

Painting

The painting shows St. John looking upwards while writing in a book, with a bird (presumably an eagle) at his elbow.^[1] This painting was documented in the 18th-century but was rediscovered in July, 1997, when it was auctioned at Sotheby's in London as one of four lost paintings by Hals of the evangelists.^[2][3] The sale price of 2.9 million dollars was a record high for a Frans Hals painting at the time.^[3]

The four evangelists by Hals were documented in 1910 by Hofstede de Groot, who wrote "The Four Evangelists. - Four separate pictures, each of them a half-length, showing the hands and attributes of the saint. Canvas, each 27 1/2 inches by 22 inches. Sales. - Gerard Hoet, The Hague, August 25, 1760 (Terw. 231), No. 134 (120 florins, Yver). The Hague, April 13, 1771, Z. No. 35. F.W. Baron van Borck, Amsterdam, May 1, 1771, No. 34 (33 florins, Yver)." At the time he was writing, all of these paintings were considered lost:^[4]

• 

  St. Luke

• 

  St. Matthew

• 

  St. Mark

• 

  St. John

References

Frans Hals
Paintings	Portrait of a Woman Standing The Banquet of the Officers of the St George Militia Company in 1616 Shrovetide Revellers Portrait of a Woman Standing (Kassel) The Rommelpot Player Two Singing Boys with a Lute and a Music Book Catharina Both-van der Eem Marriage Portrait of Isaac Massa and Beatrix van der Laen Yonker Ramp and His Sweetheart Laughing Cavalier The Lute Player Laughing Boy with Flute Laughing Boy with a Flute Boy with a Glass and a Lute The Smoker The Fingernail Test The Gypsy Girl St. John St. Matthew St. Luke St. Mark Willem van Heythuysen Posing with a Sword Laughing Boy Cunera van Baersdorp¨ Portrait of Isaak Abrahamsz. Massa Portrait of Anna van der Aar Young Man with a Skull The Banquet of the Officers of the St Adrian Militia Company in 1627 The Banquet of the Officers of the St George Militia Company in 1627 Portrait of a Woman in a Chair Two Laughing Boys with a Mug of Beer Laughing Fisherboy Peeckelhaeringh The Merry Drinker Malle Babbe Smiling Fishergirl Fisher Boy with Basket The Fisher Boy Sara Wolphaerts van Diemen Cornelia Claesdr Voogt The Officers of the St Adrian Militia Company in 1633 Portrait of a Man with a Beer Jug Portrait of a Man in a Yellowish-Gray Jacket Catharina Brugmans Feyntje Steenkiste Hylck Boner Meagre Company Portrait of a Woman (Marie Larp) Pieter Tjarck Claes Duyst van Voorhout Maria Pietersdr Olycan Maritge Claesdr. Voogt The Officers of the St George Militia Company in 1639 Portrait of Dorothea Berck Regents of the Old Men's Almshouse Regentesses of the Old Men's Almshouse
Catalogs raisonné	1974 1989
Other	Dutch Golden Age painting Haarlem School (painting) Tronie Naturalism (art) Flemish Baroque painting
Related	Karel van Mander (teacher) Dirck Hals (brother) Harmen Hals (son) Frans Hals Junior (son) Jan Hals (son) Reynier Hals (son) Nicolaes Hals (son) Théophile Thoré-Bürger Seymour Slive Claus Grimm
Public collections	Frans Hals Museum Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Mauritshuis