Frans Hals, (artist), Dutch, c. 1582/1583 - 1666, Portrait of a Member of the Haarlem Civic Guard, c. 1636/1638, oil on canvas, overall: 86 x 69 cm (33 7/8 x 27 3/16 in.), framed: 110.2 x 95.3 x 7.6 cm (43 3/8 x 37 1/2 x 3 in.), Starting in 1568, seven provinces of the Netherlands broke away in revolt against Spanish rule, initiating a war for independence that lasted until 1648. In the early years of the conflict the militias (civic guard companies) of Haarlem in particular put up a heroic fight. By Halsˇ time the military front was sufficiently far to the south that the function of these militias had become more social than martial, which explains the presence in this portrait of the elegant lace collar over the iron breastplate and the lace cuffs. Each battalion was divided into three companies based on the colors of the rebel flagorange, white, and blue; the civic guardsman here clearly was a member of one of the orange companies. Hals, member of the Saint George civic guard since 1612, made a number of large group portraits of the militia companies..