Eine Gesellschaft Offiziere bei Tische, links ein Hellebardier 

Curator: Oh, I see a bunch of stern faces gathered around a table. It's like a who's who of ruffled collars. What do you make of it? Editor: We're looking at "A Company of Officers at Table, a Halberdier to the Left," a drawing rendered in ink, attributed to Franz Pietersz. Grebber, and part of the Städel Museum collection. I find the almost cartoonish quality particularly fascinating. Curator: Cartoonish is a great way to put it. It’s as if someone decided to capture a Renaissance-era board meeting gone slightly off the rails. Look at the hats! And the fellow to the left practically vibrating with impatience! Editor: The exaggeration is key. Though not dated, this kind of group portrait was popular, and the artist manages to subvert the typical solemnity through caricature. There is the underlying commentary on status, perhaps satirizing the self-importance of the sitters. Curator: It makes me wonder what they’re talking about, these gents. Taxation? Land disputes? The proper way to starch a ruff? All are wearing that same slight pout and holding glasses high... Editor: One has to consider the socio-political climate too. During the Baroque period, these commissioned portraits of powerful men and their assemblies conveyed messages of solidarity, wealth, and authority. Here though, Grebber adds an almost theatrical flavor, subtly mocking the same establishment he seems to represent. Curator: Yes, I get that rebellious edge! There’s life behind those caricatured faces, the type that makes me think of smoky pubs and boisterous laughter. That the picture is incomplete, sketched and yet quite intense, only adds to that image of life unfolding at a party of powerful people. Editor: And it’s accessible. Despite the formality, you find yourself invited to ponder what kind of institution they represented and what drove its members to that place and time. Perhaps Grebber hoped to inspire such queries for audiences beyond his contemporary moment. Curator: It truly worked for me. I won’t look at neck ruffs the same way! Editor: Indeed, and I am equally convinced that Franz Pietersz. Grebber, with one single drawing, offers more than a snapshot of a few officers at dinner.