The Officers of the St Adrian Militia Company in 1633
Wybrand Hendriks
shows how much darker the painting has become over the centuries.
The Officers of the St Adrian Militia Company in 1633 refers to the second
schutterstuk painted by Frans Hals for the Cluveniers, St. Adrian, or St. Hadrian civic guard of Haarlem, in 1633, and today considered one of the main attractions of the Frans Hals Museum
there.
Unlike Hals' previous schutterstuk for this company,
oranje-blanje-bleu, in this version, the men are seated outside in the courtyard wearing sashes showing the colour of the officer's "rot", with the Ensign Jacob Hofland holding the flag of the blue rot, and Ensign Jacob Steyn holding the flag for the white rot. Because they are outside, they are holding their weapons. For the first time the sergeants are shown, holding halberds to differentiate them from officers with spontoons
.
Officers were selected by the council of Haarlem to serve for three years, and this group had just finished their tenure and celebrated their end of service with a portrait. This was not the first time they were portrayed outside. After Hals painted them in 1627,
Hendrick Gerritsz Pot painted them in 1630 on the steps just outside their hall where the other earlier paintings hung. In this version painted for the next three-year service period, the man with the orange sash seated on the left and looking directly at the viewer is Colonel Johan Claesz Loo
, heading the table.
The men featured are from left to right Ensign Jacob Hofland, Captain Cornelis Backer, Sergeant Dirck Verschuyl (standing in background with
Hendrick Gerritsz Pot
(sitting with book).
St. Adriansdoelen
View of a life-size reproduction of this painting decorating the old meeting hall at what is today the Haarlem Public Library.
Wybrand Hendriks
of the start of Pro Aris et Focis in 1787. This painting can be seen hanging on the rear wall.
The painting previously hung with others in the old "Doelen" hall, which is today part of the Haarlem Public Library.[1] The paintings by Hals and others that formerly hung in this hall have been since transferred to the Frans Hals Museum, though because they are so large, not all of these paintings are on display.
During the
Wybrand Hendriks commemorated the event with an engraving of the meeting, and this painting is shown hanging side by side with a later schutterstuk by Pieter Soutman
