In 1639, the leaders of St George’s civic guard commissioned Frans Hals to paint a group portrait. It was his sixth and last civic guard painting. The guards are assembled in two rows – unlike Hals’s other group portraits. The sense of movement is created by the weapons and banners.
One of the men is Frans Hals himself. Although not a member of the guards at the time, he added himself to this group portrait - he looks on from the top left corner. This is the only known self-portrait of the artist.