Militia Company of District VIII

Close-up of Bartholomeus Van Der Helst’s 1643 “Militia Company of District VIII Under The Command of Captain Roelof Bicker”. It looks like a lot of artists did similar paintings of various civil militias—including the famous Night Watch. These were rich and prestigious organisations, which needed sumptuous paintings in their watch houses.

The level of detail is absolutely stunning, damn near photorealistic, which seems to be a thing for Van Der Helst. Another of his paintings has a couple of the characters reflected off someone else’s breastplate. Now that’s just showing off!