The Officers of the St George Militia Company in 1639

In this painting over 4 meters wide, nineteen men are portrayed, each wearing a sash in the colour of his rot, or brigade.

All three brigades of the St George militia are represented, with their flag-bearers carrying flags in the colours orange, white or blue.

These officers were selected by the council of Haarlem to serve for three years, and this group had just finished their tenure and celebrated their end of service with a portrait.

Besides showing local painters Hals and Pot, two other men in the rear lineup were relatives of local painters; Lieutenant Cornelis Coning was an engraver, Ensign Jacob Druyvesteyn was the son of Aart Jansz Druyvesteyn, and Sergeant Abraham Cornelisz van der Schalcken was the father of Cornelis Symonsz van der Schalcke, who some say painted the original landscape in this painting, though this was partially overpainted in 1702.

[2][3] It is unknown why Schatter did this, though it was possibly meant to honor the Peace of Münster while paying hommage to another local artist, the architect Pieter Post.