Malle Babbe

Malle Babbe, or “Mad Barbara” in English is an unusual portrait by Frans Hals (1580–1666).

The subject is seated at a table, looking sideways in a bawdy laugh...

...a beer tankard in her right hand.

The picture has been painted in short, muscular brushstrokes, with none of the finely executed details typical of the period.

Some areas, like the apron bow, appear hastily sketched in, giving the picture a great feeling of movement and animation – just as if it were a snapshot of real life.

Malle Babbe’s attribute, the owl on her shoulder, has traditionally been a symbol of wisdom; as a bird of the night, however, it also points to the darker side of the human personality: stupidity, idiocy, and drunkenness.

Just around the time when this painting was made, the expression “zoo beschonken als een uil” (as drunk as an owl) was in popular use in the Netherlands.

Yet this painting seems much less a warning of the evils of drunkenness than a sympathetic portrait of a real person.

The portrayed woman really did exist. As a find in the Haarlem city archives proves, Malle Babbe could be identified as Barbara Claes (died 1663). From 1646 onwards, she was housed for 15 years in the workhouse in Haarlem, which at that time served as a lunatic asylum and reform

Frans Hals' son Pieter was also housed here for a time, albeit years after the painting was created.

Crazy Barbara became world famous. Many artists copied "Malle Babbe", while others integrated her into their own works – for example Jan Steen. In his painting "The Christening" (c.1663), Malle Babbe can be seen hanging on the wall.