ABSTRACT
The identification of the portrait Frans Hals painted of a member of the Coymans family in 1645 (Washington, National Gallery of Art) is based on an analysis of the inscription in the painting. It originally appeared to show the sitter's age as ‘22’; now it reads ‘26’. Willem Coymans was baptized in 1623, so he seemed to be a logical candidate, but is he the actual sitter? To answer this question, it proved essential to establish the reason for the apparent correction of the young man's age.
