Militia Company of District VIII in Amsterdam under the Command of Captain Roelof Bicker

• The Company of Captain Roelof Bicker and Lieutenant Jan Michielsz Blaeuw in front of the De Haan Brewery at the Corner of the Geldersekade and the Boomsloot (called the Lastage)
• Militia Company of District VIII in Amsterdam under the Command of Captain Roelof Bicker
• Officers and other Civic Guardsmen of the VIII District in Amsterdam under the command of Captain Roelof Bicker and Lieutenant Jan Michielsz Blaeuw

The Company of Captain Roelof Bicker and Lieutenant Jan Michielsz Blaeuw in front of the De Haan Brewery at the Corner of the Geldersekade and the Boomsloot (called the Lastage)

SK-C-375

signature and date: ‘B. vander Helst f. 163[9]’

Civilians also served as armed guardsmen to defend their cities. The wealthiest among them were eager to have their portraits included in large civic guard paintings. This painting originally hung in the same hall of the Kloveniersdoelen (Arquebusiers’ Headquarters) as Rembrandt’s night Watch. We know everyone’s name except for the boy carrying a red cloak in the middle. He is the servant of the man beside him, holding a staff.

Judith van Gent, 'Een 'vleyend penceel' : Bertholomeus van der Helst : begaafd schilder van de Amsterdamse elite', Ons Amsterdam 63 (2011) nr. 10, p. 406-407.

painter: Bartholomeus van der Helst

c. 1640 - c. 1643

olieverf op doek

height 235 cm x width 750 cm

On loan from the City of Amsterdam

Public domain

• Judith van Gent, 'Een 'vleyend penceel' : Bertholomeus van der Helst : begaafd schilder van de Amsterdamse elite', Ons Amsterdam 63 (2011) nr. 10, p. 406-407.
• M. Haveman, 'Levendig en beschrijvend', Kunstschrift (2014) nr. 4, p. 4-5, afb. 2.

To refer to this object, please use the following persistent URL:

https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200109369