Militia Company of District XI under the Command of Captain Reynier Reael

Frans Hals, Pieter Codde, 1637

So much went wrong with this Amsterdam militia company portrait. Hals made several trips to the capital to portray the guardsmen, but some never showed up. Finally, he insisted they come to Haarlem, but they refused, instead engaging the Amsterdam painter Pieter Codde to complete the work. Hals’ progress then remains unclear, but the composition and the seven figures on the left seem to be largely by him.

  • Artwork typepainting
  • Object numberSK-C-374
  • Dimensionssupport: height 209 cm x width 429 cm, frame: height 233 cm x width 452 cm
  • Physical characteristicsoil on canvas

Identification

  • Title(s)

    • Officers and other Guardsmen of the XIth District of Amsterdam, under the Command of Captain Reijnier Reael and Lieutenant Cornelis Michielsz Blaeuw, known as the 'The Meagre Company'
    • Militia Company of District XI under the Command of Captain Reynier Reael
    • The Company of Captain Reynier Reael and lieutenant Cornelis Michielsz Blaeuw, Amsterdam, 1637, known as the 'The Meagre Company' (former title)

  • Object type

  • Object number

    SK-C-374

  • Description

    Het korporaalschap van kapitein Reijnier Reael en luitenant Cornelis Michielsz Blaeuw, Amsterdam, 1637, bekend als 'De magere compagnie'. Schuttersstuk met twee zittende en verder alleen staande mannen. Sommigen met een vaandel, hellebaard en lans.

  • Inscriptions / marks

    date, centre right: ‘Aº 1637’

  • Part of catalogue

Creation

  • Creation

    • painter: Frans Hals
    • painter: Pieter Codde

  • Dating

    1637

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Material and technique

  • Physical description

    oil on canvas

  • Dimensions

    • support: height 209 cm x width 429 cm
    • frame: height 233 cm x width 452 cm

This work is about

  • Person

  • Subject

Acquisition and rights

  • Credit line

    On loan from the City of Amsterdam

  • Copyright

    Public domain

  • Provenance

    Commissioned by the sitters for the Voetboogdoelen (headquarters of the crossbowmen’s civic guard); first mentioned in the Voetboogdoelen, 1653: ‘Aº. 1633. Ibid. [beneden de nieuwe Sael onder de Glasen] tegenover de Schoorsteen, Capn. Reynier Reael, Lutnt Cornelis Michielsz. Blau, aº 1637 bij Francois Hals begonnen, ende bij Codde voorts opgemaeckt’;{Schaep 1653, p. 134, no. 23.} transferred to the Great Council of War Chamber in the town hall by 1758;{Van Dyk 1758, pp. VI, 30, no. 20.} on loan to the museum from the City of Amsterdam since 1885

Documentation

    • P. Torresan, 'Per una rvolutazione di Pieter Codde', Antichità viva 14 (1975), p. 12.
    • I.H. van Eeghen, 'Pieter Codde en Frans Hals', Amstelodamum 61 (1974), p. 138-140, afb.
    • N. Middelkoop, 'Kruisbestuiving : Schutters- en regentenstukken in Haarlem en Amsterdam', Kunstschrift (2014) nr. 4, p. 29, afb. 29.
    • S.A.C. Dudok van Heel, 'Rembrandt en de Vaandrigs van de Amsterdamse Schutterij', Kroniek van het Rembrandthuis (1993) nr. 2, p. 18-19, afb.
    • Kunstkronijk (1846), p. 4-12.
    • F. Suzman Jowell, 'Thoré-Bürger and the Revival of Frans Hals', The Art Bulletin 56 (1974), p. 109.

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