154:, there’s a painting — it was unknown to me until now — by Frans Hals and P. Codde, 20 or so officers full length. Have you noticed it??? In itself, that painting alone makes the trip to Amsterdam well worth while, especially for a colourist. There’s a figure in it, the figure of the standard-bearer in the extreme left corner, right up against the frame. That figure is in grey from top to toe, let’s call it pearl grey, — of a singular neutral tone — probably obtained with orange and blue mixed so that they neutralize each other — by varying this basic colour in itself — by making it a little lighter here, a little darker there, the whole figure is as it were painted with one and the same grey. But the leather shoes are a different material from the leggings, which are different from the folds of the breeches, which are different from the doublet — expressing different materials, very different in colour one from another, still all one family of grey — but wait! Into that grey he now introduces blue and orange — and some white. The doublet has satin ribbons of a divine soft blue. Sash and flag orange — a white collar.
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103:. Hals seems to have initially intended an Amsterdam version of the same painting, beginning on the left with a smiling flag bearer wearing a flamboyant cut-sleeve jacket with lace and holding a flag in the color of his sash. Though it is impossible to tell on which side of the canvas Hals began painting, the light falls onto the figures from the left in the "standard" Hals tradition and this is also where the most important figures are situated within the painting. Since each sitter paid for his own portrait, it is presumed that Hals began with the most important sitters in order to "sell" canvas room to other paying officers. Whether or not Hals did in fact start on the left or drew a sketch of the entire group at once, the
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Amsterdam to finish the painting, but he refused, offering to receive the sitters in his
Haarlem studio with assurances that they would not need to sit very long. His offer was refused, and Codde was hired to finish the piece. Because the men are thinner than the men portrayed in other, later, Amsterdam schutterstukken hanging near this painting, the piece was later nicknamed the "meagre company". Besides the ensign and the seated men, the names of the other officers are unknown today.
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a white against that grey. Further carried through in that painting — other orange spectrums against a different blue, further the most glorious blacks against the most glorious whites — the heads — some twenty — sparkling with spirit and life, and how they’re done! and what colour! the superb appearance of all those fellows, full length. But that orange, white, blue chap in the left corner — — …… I’ve seldom seen a more divinely beautiful figure — — it’s something marvellous.
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292:, Van der Helst seems to have embraced Amsterdam and at the young age of 23, even married there in 1636, the year that Hals was replaced by Codde. Van der Helst was probably a pupil of either Codde or Hals, as very little is documented about his training. In his 1639 group, he was clearly influenced by Hals, since he added design ideas from the
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Orange, white, blue, as the national colours were then. Orange and blue next to each other, that most glorious spectrum — on a ground of grey judiciously mixed, precisely by uniting just those two, let me call them poles of electricity (in terms of colour, though) so that they obliterate each other,
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on the left in this painting has been painted in a remarkably flamboyant way from the tip of his hat to the toe of his boots. This was possibly to prove to the decision makers in
Amsterdam that Hals was capable of painting a schutterstuk in the "Amsterdam style", which included the entire figure. In
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The flag bearer is
Nicolaes van Bambeeck. Seated next to him are Captain Reael, with hat and commander's staff, and Lieutenant Cornelis Michielsz Blaeuw, balding and holding a spontoon. The further to the right, however, the less the two paintings resemble each other. In 1636 Hals was called to
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If there was a competition in
Amsterdam to win militia group portrait commissions, then Van der Helst was clearly favored above Codde. Codde was never given another militia group portrait commission, although he went on to become a successful painter who could afford a house on the
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got its nickname. The nickname "Meagre company" appears to have been first used by the 18th-century art historian Jan van Dijk in his "Kunst en
Historie Kundige beschrijving en opmerkingen over alle de schilderijen op het stadhuis", p. 30, no. 20.
270:, which was completed well over a decade after Hals' commission, in 1642. Casual observers over the centuries have noticed how much fatter the officers became in that time, which is how the
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304:. Van der Helst, on the other hand, went on to paint several more militia group portrait commissions as well as group portraits for other Amsterdam municipal organizations.
82:. Hals was unhappy about commuting to Amsterdam to work on the painting and, unlike his previous group portraits, was unable to deliver it on time. The sitters contracted
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Frans Hals: Exhibition on the
Occasion of the Centenary of the Municipal Museum at Haarlem, 1862–1962., pp 55–56, publication Frans Hals Museum, 1962
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The 'Meagre
Company' currently hangs across from its successor, the next militia group portrait to be painted in Amsterdam, Van der Helst's
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Hals was originally commissioned in 1633, after the favorable reception of his previous militia group portrait,
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Van der Helst was himself the son of an innkeeper in
Haarlem, and, like Hals, had taken advantage of the new
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I don’t know whether you remember that to the left of the Night watch, in other words as a pendant to the
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286:. Whereas Hals gave up his Amsterdam commission to concentrate on his next Haarlem group portrait,
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The
Company of Roelof Bicker and lieutenant Jan Michielsz Blaeuw in 1639, by Van der Helst
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188:. The group paintings that formerly hung in this hall have been since transferred to the
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The figure of the standard-bearer in the extreme left corner, right up against the frame
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The painting previously hung with others in the old Archer's meeting hall called the "
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40:. The portraits of the men are cut off at the knee in the traditional Haarlem style
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The
Company of Captain Reinier Reael and Lieutenant Cornelis Michielsz Blaeuw
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style of being "cut off at the knee" in three-quarter length portraits.
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Historische beschrijving der schilderijen van het stadhuis te Amsterdam
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in 1885. He sent an enthusiastic letter about it to his brother Theo:
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The Banquet of the Officers of the St George Militia Company in 1627
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The Banquet of the Officers of the St Adrian Militia Company in 1627
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The Banquet of the Officers of the St George Militia Company in 1616
264:, completed in 1639. These paintings are both hung near Rembrandt's
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was inspired by the painting, which he saw when he paid a visit to
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commuting service between Haarlem and Amsterdam in 1632 along the
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The Company of Roelof Bicker and Lieutenant Jan Michielsz Blaeuw
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Delacroix would have adored it — just adored it to the utmost.
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The Officers of the St George Militia Company in 1639, by Hals
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Haarlem, the civic guards were traditionally portrayed in the
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78:, where it is considered one of its main attractions of the
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Portrait of Stephan Geraedts, Husband of Isabella Coymans
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Marriage Portrait of Isaac Massa and Beatrix van der Laen
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The Officers of the St George Militia Company in 1639
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The Officers of the St Adrian Militia Company in 1633
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The Officers of the St George Militia Company in 1639
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The Officers of the St Adrian Militia Company in 1633
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The Officers of the St Adrian Militia Company in 1633
70:. Today the painting is in the collection of the
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296:as well as from Hals' later 1639 Haarlem group.
56:, refers to the only militia group portrait, or
16:Painting of Amsterdam schutterij by Frans Hals
549:Two Singing Boys with a Lute and a Music Book
385:
741:Portrait of a Man in a Yellowish-Gray Jacket
238:Influence on later Amsterdam group portraits
392:
378:
196:, which are both on permanent loan to the
693:Willem van Heythuysen Posing with a Sword
353:. Deel I, Stadsdrukkerij 1879, pp. 14–15.
340:to Theo van Gogh, Nuenen, 10 October 1885
192:, except for this one and a later one by
99:to differentiate them from officers with
1064:Marriage pendant portraits by Frans Hals
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241:
123:
32:
20:
773:Portrait of a Man in a Wide-Brimmed Hat
119:
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943:Regentesses of the Old Men's Almshouse
749:Portrait of Sara Wolphaerts van Diemen
232:University library on the Koningsplein
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605:Two Laughing Boys with a Mug of Beer
13:
935:Regents of the Old Men's Almshouse
597:Portrait of Isaak Abrahamsz. Massa
14:
1142:
1126:Paintings in the Amsterdam Museum
165:
853:Portrait of a Woman (Marie Larp)
225:
205:
314:List of paintings by Frans Hals
132:The post-impressionist painter
877:Portrait of a Man with a Glove
797:Portrait of Feyntje Steenkiste
757:Portrait of Catharina Brugmans
629:Portrait of a Woman in a Chair
477:Yonker Ramp and His Sweetheart
399:
343:
331:
1:
324:
1131:Paintings in the Rijksmuseum
589:Portrait of Anna van der Aar
445:Portrait of a Woman Standing
421:Portrait of a Woman Standing
7:
901:Family Group in a Landscape
565:Boy with a Glass and a Lute
365:Amsterdam Collection online
307:
10:
1147:
893:Portrait of Dorothea Berck
813:Portrait of a Dutch Family
461:Catharina Both-van der Eem
338:Letter by Vincent van Gogh
194:Bartholomeus van der Helst
169:
1116:17th century in Amsterdam
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988:
972:
953:
885:Portrait of Mrs. Bodolphe
573:Laughing Boy with a Flute
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172:Voetboogdoelen, Amsterdam
829:Claes Duyst van Voorhout
1121:Militia group portraits
1111:Paintings by Frans Hals
805:Portrait of Hylck Boner
557:Laughing Boy with Flute
186:University of Amsterdam
1038:Théophile Thoré-Bürger
1002:Frans Hals the Younger
861:Maritge Claesdr. Voogt
837:Maria Pietersdr Olycan
725:Cornelia Claesdr Voogt
669:Fisher Boy with Basket
653:Young Man with a Skull
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247:
163:
129:
41:
30:
1068:Catalogues raisonnés
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148:
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36:
24:
954:Possible attribution
501:Cunera van Baersdorp
453:The Rommelpot Player
437:Shrovetide Revellers
142:in the newly opened
120:Comments by Van Gogh
86:to finish the work.
962:The Fingernail Test
677:Man with a Beer Jug
284:Haarlemmertrekvaart
685:Smiling Fishergirl
637:Laughing Fisherboy
349:Pieter Scheltema,
319:Haarlem schutterij
256:
248:
180:", located on the
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42:
31:
1093:
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980:Frans Hals Museum
928:(Jacquemart-André
926:Portrait of a Man
917:Portrait of a Man
765:Portrait of a Man
717:The Merry Drinker
493:Laughing Cavalier
415:List of paintings
74:, on loan to the
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1032:Karel van Mander
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371:
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190:Amsterdam Museum
134:Vincent van Gogh
72:Amsterdam Museum
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1106:1630s paintings
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789:Lucas de Clercq
709:Peeckelhaeringh
485:The Lute Player
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267:The Night Watch
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218:Gerrit Lamberts
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139:The Night Watch
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912:(c. 1650–1652)
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904:(c. 1645–1648)
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856:(c. 1635–1638)
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821:Meagre Company
817:
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784:(c. 1633–1635)
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776:(c. 1625–1635)
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752:(c. 1630–1633)
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720:(c. 1628–1630)
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701:The Gypsy Girl
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661:The Fisher Boy
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456:(c. 1618–1620)
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440:(c. 1616–1617)
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294:Meagre Company
272:Meagre Company
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214:Voetboogdoelen
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178:Voetboogdoelen
170:Main article:
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166:Voetboogdoelen
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47:Meagre Company
27:Meagre Company
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1020:Nicolaes Hals
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845:Pieter Tjarck
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302:Keizersgracht
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80:Honor Gallery
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62:, painted by
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28:
23:
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1014:Reynier Hals
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645:Girl Singing
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541:Laughing Boy
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220:around 1820.
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90:
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84:Pieter Codde
79:
59:schutterstuk
57:
52:
51:
46:
45:
43:
37:
26:
18:
1048:Claus Grimm
996:Harmen Hals
824:(1633–1637)
781:Malle Babbe
712:(1628–1630)
704:(1628–1630)
696:(1625–1630)
656:(1626–1628)
517:St. Matthew
488:(1623–1624)
448:(1618–1620)
198:Rijksmuseum
144:Rijksmuseum
105:flag bearer
76:Rijksmuseum
66:outside of
29:, 1633-1637
1100:Categories
1084:Frans Hals
1026:Dirck Hals
581:The Smoker
401:Frans Hals
325:References
280:trekschuit
64:Frans Hals
1034:(teacher)
1028:(brother)
965:(c. 1626)
946:(c. 1664)
930:(c. 1660)
921:(c. 1660)
816:(c. 1635)
688:(c. 1630)
680:(c. 1630)
672:(c. 1630)
664:(c. 1630)
648:(c. 1628)
608:(c. 1626)
560:(c. 1625)
552:(c. 1625)
544:(c. 1625)
472:(c. 1622)
408:Paintings
216:drawn by
101:spontoons
1008:Jan Hals
533:St. Mark
525:St. Luke
509:St. John
308:See also
110:kniestuk
97:halberds
1057:Related
973:Museums
919:(Frick)
152:Syndics
68:Haarlem
1086:(song)
989:People
938:(1664)
896:(1644)
888:(1643)
880:(1640)
872:(1639)
864:(1639)
848:(1638)
840:(1638)
832:(1638)
808:(1635)
800:(1635)
792:(1635)
768:(1634)
760:(1634)
744:(1633)
736:(1633)
728:(1631)
640:(1628)
632:(1627)
624:(1627)
616:(1627)
600:(1626)
592:(1626)
584:(1626)
576:(1626)
568:(1626)
536:(1625)
528:(1625)
520:(1625)
512:(1625)
504:(1625)
496:(1624)
480:(1623)
464:(1620)
432:(1616)
182:Singel
1022:(son)
1016:(son)
1010:(son)
1004:(son)
998:(son)
50:, or
1077:1989
1072:1974
212:The
44:The
25:The
1102::
200:.
393:e
386:t
379:v
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