The Company of Captain Dirck Jacobsz Rosecrans and Lieutenant Pauw, Amsterdam, 1588

Amsterdam had joined the revolt against Spain only ten years before this canvas was painted, and in 1588 its militias were still being remade. From 1580, on the initiative of William of Orange, the old guilds were reorganised into civic guards run along military lines, with officers drawn from the city's prosperous citizens. Here 13 of them, men of the crossbowmen's company, stand side by side with halberds, swords and a company banner. Ketel painted every one of them from head to toe, and the picture is usually counted as the earliest Dutch militia portrait to show its members full length. Down on the tiled floor, a dark dog in a muzzle waits at the right, while a little lapdog near the centre jumps up against its owner's legs.