Anonymous: Two officers of the Saint George guild (1589)

(Westfries Museum, Hoorn, The Netherlands)

A painting by an unknown Dutch artist. This double-portrait is a unique painting among the Dutch civic guard paintings - unique as it differs from the other civic guard paintings.   shows two high ranking officers of the saint George guild of the Dutch town of Hoorn. This guild was founded around 1500 and was named ' the old civic guard' which used the crossbow as its weapon of choice. Names of these two haven't been preserved although the painting gives the age of each man: the left is 44 years old and the right 35. Both their coat-of-arms is also shown behind each man. The small chest in the right corner was used to store the archives of the guild - this chest has been preserved. In the window between the men a scene is shown with saint George and the dragon - the patron saint of the guild. Painting from 1589.