The group portrait made its appearance in the Low Countries in the 16th century and subsequently became a popular form in the northern part of the region. Among its pioneers was Dirck Jacobsz. The Hermitage's Group Portrait of a Company of Amsterdam Musketeers came from the collection of Count Brühl and is an early example of the genre. The composition of the portrait is stylized: the personages, dressed in the robes of their company, are arranged in three rows. Standing out in the centre is the head of the guild wearing a breastplate and holding a musket. The cloak of one of the men in the foreground bears an eagle's talon device - the emblem of the company. The artist's efforts to include as many faces as possible on one canvas were prompted by the practicality of his clients. We know that such group portraits commissioned by guilds were paid for by each of the sitters separately. The size of the fee depended on where someone was put - a place in the front row being most expensive. Dirck Jacobsz's skill revealed itself in the ability to give an individual psychological portrait of each of his subjects. Portraits of this kind were hung in the town hall and are rarely found in museum collections today.