. Rembrandt : his life, his work, and his time. hewalls were hung with tapestries, and the plate increased in coloured banners were suspended at intervals, with patrioticinscriptions : P^o avis et focis ; Hdc nitiumr, lianc tueinur ; Concordiafacit vim, etc. In the pictures that were the chief ornaments of these halls, it isnatural to expect a certain modification after the war. It might havebeen supposed that the painters, many of whom had taken part in thestirring events of the times, would have been anxious to record some ofthe brilliant exploits of their militant burgesses
. Rembrandt : his life, his work, and his time. hewalls were hung with tapestries, and the plate increased in coloured banners were suspended at intervals, with patrioticinscriptions : P^o avis et focis ; Hdc nitiumr, lianc tueinur ; Concordiafacit vim, etc. In the pictures that were the chief ornaments of these halls, it isnatural to expect a certain modification after the war. It might havebeen supposed that the painters, many of whom had taken part in thestirring events of the times, would have been anxious to record some ofthe brilliant exploits of their militant burgesses, and preserve the memoryof their heroism. Strange to say, we can find no trace of any suchambition. The portraits painted after the war revert to the conventionof the earlier works, and the sitters are arranged in the same monoto-nous rows. The only sign of progress is an evident desire on the part of ^ For further details in connection with these pictures of the military guilds, see mystudy in the Rroue des Deux Mondes for December 15, s. ^0 PICTURES OF THE MILITARY GUILDS 215 the artist to give something more of animation to the faces, and to groupthe figures round the table rather more picturesquely. The sitterswere generally represented glass in hand, and this motive at last becamesuch a favourite one, that it was universally adopted. The composition,indeed, varies so little in works of this class, that they are to be differ-entiated only by the varying degrees of skill and care that characterisetheir execution. Among the towns which produced important worksof this class, Haarlem and the Hague rank first. The masterpieces ofHals and of Jan van Ravesteyn in the museums of the two cities attesttheir superiority. Remarkable as these works are. however, they excelrather in beauty of technique than in novelty of conception. They werepaid for, like the earlier portrait groups, by contributions from eachmember of the guild who desired a place on the canvas. It is evidentth
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