![]() George (16) as well several more portraits of the sitters and their families. In Hals's case, the success of this work led to two more group portraits for the militia of St. ![]() Painting a shuttersstuk would have brought the artist a good income for up to a year and often led to further commissions by individual group members. They also split the cost of the commission, albeit not equally but according to their rank. The group would decide collectively on the format of the work and then each member would sit separately to have their likeness painted. They were highly representative works where much emphasis was placed on detail in clothing, emblems and decoration. Group portraits such as this (called shuttersstukken), were popular in the 17 th-century Netherlands and were often commissioned by civic organisations such as guilds, militias and charities to mark notable events. The figure standing at the back without a sash and carrying a plate is their servant. ![]() The central flag is that of Spain, a trophy from the Spanish occupation of Haarlem which ended in 1580, the other two flags are red and white, the colors of St George as well as the City of Haarlem. The three men standing, who wear the company's red and white sashes, are ensigns, each of whom carries a flag. The middle is occupied by the three captains whilst the three lieutenants sit at the end. Their seating arrangement reflects their ranks, with the colonel and the provost at the head of the table on the left. It shows the officers at their farewell banquet having just ended their three-year tenure. This large-scale work was Hals's first of three paintings for the St. Most paintings of the period were carefully smoothed and finished and this contrast added to the vitality of Hals pieces giving them a unique sense of life and movement.ฤก616 The Banquet of the Officers of the St George Militia Company in 1616 Hals' brush strokes were both visible and prominent and this created a rough textured appearance to his work.This was particularly novel in his group works such as The Banquet of the Officers of the Civic Guard of St George (1616) where he banished monotonous regularity with techniques including grouping the figures rather than placing them at equidistant intervals, incorporating individual gestures, and varying the direction of the gaze of the sitters. Hals inverted compositional norms by utilizing a huge variety of poses for the people he painted and this was at odds with the stiff and formal poses seen elsewhere.Hals represented laughter deftly and his figures are more animated and consequently more human than those produced by many of his contemporaries. The smile is the hallmark of many of Hals images, ranging from a glimmer in the eye to a broad grin and this was unusual at a period when sitters were traditionally depicted with their mouths closed and with a serious expression.
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