since 1975, the "elisabeth van thüringen fonds" appointed a curator to take care of its imposing art collection, which was the result of centuries of commissions to local artists. in general, the art commissioned was meant to either glorify the purpose of the institution itself, or to commemorate the regents of the gasthuis, generally at moments of change, such as new appointments or retirement. on 15 april 2012 a large selection of 11 works were formally signed over to the frans hals museum, which already had 14 items on loan. these include the group portraits of former regents by frans hals, jan cornelisz verspronck and frans decker, as well as pieces by maarten van heemskerck, dirck hals, cornelis cornelisz van haarlem, nicolaas roosendael, adriaan backer, and a follower of joachim patenier.