This type of elegant interior with a group of well-dressed people enjoying themselves around a table is known as a 'merry company'. Such examples derive from representations of biblical subjects, for example, the Prodigal Son Feasting, & were often engraved with moralising verses which condemned foolish behaviour. In the left background is a map; on the wall to the right is a painting representing the Betrayal of Christ. Dirck Hals was the brother of the famous Haarlem painter Frans Hals, whose work is also represented in the National Gallery's Collection.