Describe the characteristics of the Composition in this artwork's Subject matter.
In Ann Sutherland Harris' book, Seventeenth-century Art and Architecture, Harris praises Hals for his compositional prowess and that his methods in painting this series of schuttersstukken allow for varied events all throughout. How the figures are arranged and how their body language is translated is very life-like. He utilizes varying heights across the canvas, giving the piece depth, while also placing the officers in the front, having them turn around as if to look forward. This choice created this extra illusion of interaction where the figures are looking at someone outside the borders of the painting. It displays this sense of realism that feels like a moment taken out of time.
Hals was more concerned on how the arrangement and body language of the officers interacted in the piece over any kind of symbolism, a bi-product of the Dutch Golden Age that came from the emphasis on group portraiture. Frans wanted to emphasize the individual silhouettes in excerpts of conversations and interacting movements, any ceremonial symbolism in the banquet was only minor.
portraiture schuttersstuk realism Dutch Golden Age Ann Sutherland Harris