A series about some of the best known images in art.

For years he hung in countless homes all over the country, the symbol of gallant, rakish manhood. The English claimed him as their own, and here at least he became as much a star as the Mona Lisa herself. Now, after years of relegation to chocolate-box tops and advertisements, he seems little more than a representative of bygone bad taste.
Michael Kitson traces the Cavalier's rise to fame, in relation to Hals's work as a whole. Does he perhaps, deserve a little more respect than we now allow him?