This project is a collaborative effort, involving Prof. em. Dr. Arie Wallert, Prof. Dr. Ing. Maarten van Bommel, Prof. Dr. Ing. Joris Dik as well as students from the University of Amsterdam and the University of Delft. The goal of the Frans Hals pilot project is to analyze the criteria that a number of prominent Hals scholars have used to determine whether a painting can be labelled an ‘authentic’ Hals or not. This study will relate these criteria to the seventeenth-century context in which the paintings were made. Moreover, it will feature three case studies that will assess whether these criteria can be replaced and/or expanded by using new technical research methods such as infrared reflectography (IRR), hyperspectral imaging and MA-XRF analysis. This research will lay the ground for the 2020 exhibition Frans Hals / not Frans Hals.