Officers and Other Civic Guardsmen of the IVth District of Amsterdam, under the Command of Captain Jan Claesz van Vlooswijck and Lieutenant Gerrit Hudde

Executed in the Dutch group‑portrait tradition, the painting combines meticulous individual likenesses with a unified composition. The figures wear black coats and white collars, rendered with fine brushwork that captures textures of fabric and metal. Light falls evenly across the tableau, allowing each face to be rendered sharply, a hallmark of the period’s civic commissions.

Commissioned by the members of the Fourth District’s militia, the portrait was likely displayed in the Kloveniersdoelen, the guard’s headquarters. The inclusion of each guard’s name indicates that the sitters paid for their representation, a common practice that ensured accurate depiction and reinforced social status within the community.

Schuttersstukken were a prominent genre in the Dutch Golden Age, serving both as records of civic duty and as visual affirmations of collective identity. This particular piece reflects Amsterdam’s thriving urban militia system in the early seventeenth century, when citizen guards played a vital role in maintaining order and defending the city’s commercial interests.