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Frans Hals (1581/85-1666), the son of a weaver, was born in Antwerp some time between 1581 and 1585. In his biography of Hals, Arnold Houbraken recounts how the family fled from the Spanish in 1585 and settled in Haarlem. There the young painter was apprenticed to Karel van Mander. In 1610 Frans Hals became a member of the painters' guild. This enabled him to set up his own studio, and take on pupils and assistants, among them Gerrit Berckheyde. His younger brother Dirck Hals was probably also apprenticed to him. Frans Hals was famous for his loose manner of painting, referred to by his contemporaries as 'the rough style'. This style has been both admired and reviled down through the centuries. Hals tended to concentrate on portraits, and painted some superb militia pieces. Frans Hals died in 1666 and was buried in St Bavo's, the great church in Haarlem.