Meeting of the Officers and Sergeants of the St Adrian Civic Guard (the Calivermen)

Officers and sergeants of the Calivermen meeting outdoors. The highest in rank are positioned in the foreground: the colonel, captains and lieutenants. The sergeants are allocated a place behind the table; this is the first time that Frans Hals also portrayed non-commissioned officers.
The two groups in the composition are linked by Lieutenant Jacob Buttinga centre, in front of the table. He belongs to the group on the left, with the colonel as the central point, but turns to Van Hoorn, who is at the centre of the right-hand group.
The officers of the guard carry the weapons that accompany their posts: the colonel leans on his commander’s staff, the captains carry pikes with tassels, and the sergeants have halberds. Captain Johan Schatter had been a captain in the Calivermen before. He is also depicted in the civic guard portrait of the Calivermen dating from 1627. Colonel Johan Claesz Loo and Lieutenant Hendrick Gerritsz Pot both also appear in the civic guard portrait of 1639.
The painting must originally have been much more colourful. This is particularly evident in the trees in the background: they were once green but have discoloured to brown over the centuries.