The Meagre Company, or The Company of Captain Reinier Reael and Lieutenant Cornelis Michielsz Blaeuw, refers to the only militia group portrait, or schutterstuk, painted by Frans Hals outside of Haarlem. Today the painting is in the collection of the Amsterdam Museum, on loan to the Rijksmuseum, where it is considered one of its main attractions of the Honor Gallery. 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 Pieter Codde to finish the work.
The Meagre Company, 1633-1637
The Officers of the St Adrian Militia Company in 1633. The portraits of the men are cut off at the knee in the traditional Haarlem style
The figure of the standard-bearer in the extreme left corner, right up against the frame
The Voetboogdoelen drawn by Gerrit Lamberts around 1820.
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.
