Bartholomeus van der Helst
Bartholomeus van der Helst was a Dutch painter. Considered to be one of the leading portrait painters of the Dutch Golden Age, his elegant portraits gained him the patronage of Amsterdam's elite as well as the Stadtholder's circle. Besides portraits, van der Helst painted a few genre pictures as well as some biblical scenes and mythological subjects.
Self-portrait with a miniature of Mary, Princess Royal, 1667
Pieter Lucaszn van de Venne and Anna de Carpentier with their child
Banquet of the Amsterdam Civic Guard in Celebration of the Peace of Münster
Mourning portrait of a dead child
Schutterij refers to a voluntary city guard or citizen militia in the medieval and early modern Netherlands, intended to protect the town or city from attack and act in case of revolt or fire. Their training grounds were often on open spaces within the city, near the city walls, but, when the weather did not allow, inside a church. They are mostly grouped according to their district and to the weapon that they used: bow, crossbow or gun. Together, its members are called a Schuttersgilde, which could be roughly translated as a "shooter's guild". It is now a title applied to ceremonial shooting clubs and to the country's Olympic rifle team.
The Amsterdam archery militia whose patron saint was St. Sebastian, in 1653, by Bartholomeus van der Helst
De Magere Compagnie ("The Meagre Company"), a schutterstuk for one of the Amsterdam guilds by Frans Hals and Pieter Codde, painted in 1633-37.
Meeting hall of the Cloveniers, now the Stadsbibliotheek Haarlem, with a commemorative plaque above the door, placed 200 years after the Siege of Haarlem, when many Cloveniers died defending the city.
For centuries a meeting hall and scene of indoor target practise. In the 20th century a gym for the local High School, and now a peaceful study hall.
