An exhibition pairing works by the 17th-century artists Frans Hals and Rembrandt van Rijn opened at the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem. The museum said it was the first time the two artists’ work had been shown side by side there.

Museum director Lidewij de Koekkoek said the exhibition was intended to encourage visitors to look closely at how each artist captured the essence of people in a different way, rather than to compare which painter was better or to present a large-scale blockbuster show.