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The militia piece - epitomized by Rembrandt's Night Watch (1642) - constitutes a unique pictorial genre, painted only in the Netherlands in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. By then most Dutch cities had formed their own armed civilian forces to protect the city and maintain public order. Every ward had its own militia guild, which in turn was divided into companies and squads. A company served under an officers' corps. The officers were drawn largely from the circles of the burgomasters and town councillors, the "ordinary" militiamen consisted of wealthy merchants and middle-class citizens. The civic guard was thus an elite and patrician company of gentlemen.
Frans Pietersz. de Grebber was one of the most important suppliers of civic guard paintings in Haarlem; between 1600 and 1624 he produced at least five large group portraits, commissioned by the two militia companies that the city boasted, the Calivermen and the Saint George civic guards. The painting presented here belongs to this group which shows militiamen around a laid table.
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