Not very reliable. There's a painting of our ancestor which shows him very old. The problem is at the time of the event he was a teenager. The artist painted him as he was at the time of the painting.
Well, this is all very interesting but would be more so if in one of the articles they'd list the names of the men and a short bio of each. As it is, we're all still in the dark as to who they are.
What really blew me away though about Amsterdam was spending hours looking at all of this incredible art representing the best of the mind of Man, and then walking out onto the public plaza to a horde of dirty, smelly, dope-smoking stoners laying casually about with their rotting backpacks, looking for handouts as usual. That pointed contrast between civilization and the lack thereof has always stayed with me.
“Taco Dibbits” would make a great Freeper name.
Shine, shine, the light of good works shine
The watch before the city gates depicted in their prime
That golden light all grimy now
Three hundred years have passed
The worthy Captain and his squad of troopers standing fast
The artist knew their faces well
The husbands of his lady friends
His creditors and councillors
In armour bright, the merchant men
Official moments of the guild
In poses keen from bygone days
The city fathers frozen there
Upon the canvas dark with age
The smell of paint, a flask of wine
And turn those faces all to me
The blunderbuss and halberd-shaft
And Dutch respectability
They make their entrance one by one
Defenders of that way of life
The redbrick home, the bourgeoisie
Guitar lessons for the wife
So many years we suffered here
Our country racked with Spanish wars
Now comes a chance to find ourselves
And quiet reigns behind our doors
We think about posterity again
And so the pride of little men
The burghers good and true
Still living through the painter’s hand
Request you all to understand
ping