Militia Company of District XI under the Command of Captain Reynier Reael, Known as ‘The Meagre Company’
1637
Frans Hals started painting this lively group of Dutch militiamen in 1637, but his famously loose and spontaneous brushwork drove the sitters crazy. They thought he was taking too long and making them look unfinished, so another artist, Pieter Codde, had to step in and finish the job! The painting earned its nickname, 'The Meagre Company,' because the men look surprisingly thin and scrawny compared to the robust, well-fed soldiers usually seen in grand Dutch group portraits. Despite the drama behind the scenes, their crisp white ruffs and confident poses still capture the swagger of 17th-century Amsterdam perfectly.
Location: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
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