Officers and other Civic Guardsmen of the V District in Amsterdam under the command of Captain Cornelis de Graeff and Lieutenant Hendrick Lauwrensz

The painting was commissioned in 1642 by the Amsterdam civic guard’s V District for its headquarters in the Kloveniersdoelen, a municipal guardhouse and ceremonial space in Amsterdam.

It was created by Jacob Adriaensz. Backer as part of the Dutch tradition of schutterstukken (militia group portraits), depicting the officers and guardsmen under Captain Cornelis de Graeff and Lieutenant Hendrick Lauwrensz. The work remained in Amsterdam’s civic guard collection until the late 18th century, when the Kloveniersdoelen was repurposed and the militia disbanded.

By the mid-19th century, the painting entered the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, where it has been held since.

The painting is held by the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, where it is inventoried as SK-C-1820.

It was painted in 1642 and is identified in the museum’s holdings as Officers and other Civic Guardsmen of the V District in Amsterdam under the command of Captain Cornelis de Graeff and Lieutenant Hendrick Lauwrensz. The work is listed among the museum’s collections in the Kloveniersdoelen, Royal Palace of Amsterdam.

Jacob Adriaensz Backer painted this oil work in 1642, portraying the civic guard of Amsterdam’s fifth district. The composition gathers the militia’s officers and rank‑and‑file under the leadership of Captain Cornelis de Graeff and Lieutenant Hendrick Lauwrensz, reflecting the Dutch Golden Age’s interest in group portraiture.

In the mid‑17th century Amsterdam, civic guard companies served both military and social roles, often commissioning large group portraits to assert status and collective identity. The inclusion of prominent figures like de Graeff aligns the work with the city’s patrician networks, while the maritime setting alludes to the Republic’s naval power.

Backer’s militia portrait contributes to the visual record of Dutch civic institutions and exemplifies the genre that later artists, notably Rembrandt, would expand. It remains a valuable source for studying period costume, group portrait conventions, and the interplay of public duty and personal representation in the Dutch Golden Age.