Voetboogdoelen, Amsterdam

The Voetboogdoelen was established in 1458 as the shooting range for the voetboogschutterij (crossbowmen's civic guard), and the associated building was completed in the early 16th century.

[3] In the mid-17th century, the Eighty Years' War ended and the civic guard no longer served a military purpose.

The civic guard continued to exist, but membership became an honorary position and the doelens assumed a primarily social function.

At the first of these feasts, on 20 October 1653, Joost van den Vondel was crowned with a laurel wreath to celebrate his career as a poet.

[7] Members of the civic guard, drawn from the well-to-do of Amsterdam, frequently commissioned group portraits of themselves, which were hung in the doelens.

Now on display in the Rijksmuseum, The Meagre Company is one of Hals' best-known works and was an important inspiration for Vincent van Gogh.

[9][10] Two group portraits were commissioned for the Oude Sael (Old Hall) of the Voetboogdoelen to commemorate the end of the Eighty Years' War with the Peace of Münster in 1648.

The best-known of these two paintings is the Banquet at the Crossbowmen’s Guild in Celebration of the Treaty of Münster by Bartholomeus van der Helst.

The painting was probably trimmed; on copies (such as a 1779 print by Jacob Cats), the back wall and window are much higher, and some of the ceiling is even visible.

[12][13] The Voetboogdoelen was one of three doelens (shooting ranges) for the Amsterdam civic guard, alongside the Handboogdoelen and Kloveniersdoelen, which were located along Singel and Kloveniersburgwal canal respectively.