Frans Hals
In case you haven’t noticed the abundance of upper-lip hair this month, we’re here to tell you that we’re in the so-called Movember. This cause originally came into being in 2003 when 30 “Mo Bros” in Melbourne decided to bring awareness to prostate and testicular cancer the best way they knew how—by growing mustaches. It has since become a global phenomenon, celebrated from Australia to Africa. So, time for some mustaches!!!
It is Frans Hals’ very first schuttersstuk, which refers to a voluntary city guard or citizen militia in the medieval and early modern Netherlands that was intended to protect the town or city from attack and act in case of revolt or fire. We see the officers of the St. George guard at their farewell banquet. They served from 1612 to 1615. The hierarchy of rank is shown in the seating arrangement. At left, at the head of the table, sit the colonel and the provost, the highest-ranking officers. The three captains sit in the middle, with the three lieutenants at the end. Around them stand three reserve officers and the company’s servant. The term of service for reserve officers did not end after three years; they retained their post as long as they remained unmarried.
Hals' painting was a huge success, as he won several additional portrait commissions from the subjects and their relatives, as well as winning the commission to paint a group portrait of this militia again in 1627 and in 1639.
P.S. Frans Hals is famous for his intimate portraits. We know they will make you smile; click here!
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