The Company of Captain Reinier Reael (The Meagre Company)

This painting has two artists. Rembrandt started it in 1633, and Frans Hals finished it in 1637. The Amsterdam civic guard company of Captain Reinier Reael commissioned Rembrandt to paint their group portrait, but Rembrandt quarreled with the company over the composition and left the painting unfinished. Four years later, the company hired Hals to complete it. The result is a painting that shows two of the greatest Dutch painters working on the same canvas, each in his own style. Nineteen officers of the company stand in a row, with Captain Reael at the center and Lieutenant Cornelis Michielsz. Blaeuw at his side. The figures are arranged in a loose semicircle, some standing, some seated, some turned to the viewer, some in profile. The company was known as the Meagre Company because its members were unusually thin, a nickname that stuck to the painting. Rembrandt painted the left side of the canvas, including the flag bearer and the seated figures at the lower left. His brushwork is loose and warm, with deep shadows and rich color. Hals painted the right side, including the standing officers and the captain. His brushwork is cooler and more precise, with clearer light and sharper edges. The join between the two sections is visible if you look carefully: the color temperature shifts and the handling of the paint changes. Rembrandt was 27 when he started this painting, at the height of his early Amsterdam career. He had just completed The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp and was the most sought-after portrait painter in the city. He took the commission, painted about half of it, then stopped. The reasons are unclear: he may have disagreed with the company about the arrangement of figures, or he may have been too busy with other commissions. Hals was 54 when he finished it, the leading portrait painter in Haarlem, brought in to complete what Rembrandt had abandoned. Oil on canvas, 209 by 429 centimeters, roughly 82 by 169 inches, one of the largest paintings in the Rijksmuseum. The scale is monumental: the figures are nearly life-size, and the canvas spans more than 14 feet wide. The very wide horizontal format makes this print work best in a large space: a dining room, a hallway, or above a sofa. The group portrait subject suits a traditional interior with dark wood. A dark wood frame matches the painting's tonal range. The 18x24 size gives the figures enough room to read. The painting is in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, in the Gallery of Honour. This is a public domain artwork. We print it on archival matte paper at sizes from 8x10 to 18x24 inches, framed or unframed. The image is printed at full resolution with no cropping.