reijnier-reael

MADRID.- “Just to see that painting would make the
journey to Amsterdam worthwhile,” wrote Vincent van Gogh in 1885, after having
seen this work in the Rijksmuseum. He particularly liked the “orange
banner in the left corner”, he had “seldom seen a more divinely beautiful
figure”. The painting that caused such a sensation was the group
portrait of the crossbowmen’s militia under Captain Reijnier Reael, painted by
Frans Hals and Pieter Codde in 1633 – 1637. From Amsterdam’s
Rijksmuseum. On loan from the city of Amsterdam.