The Company of Captain Dirck Jacobsz Rosecrans and Lieutenant Pauw

Thirteen self-assured officers of the Amsterdam militia, the city’s armed civic guard, are portrayed here. From 1580, at the initiative of William of Orange, the old militia guilds were refashioned into civic guards organized along military lines. The officers were recruited from the upper levels of society. The dark muzzled dog at right contrasts comically with the jaunty little lapdog at centre jumping up on its owner’s legs.