Syndics of the Drapers' Guild [SEP] inception
Syndics of the Drapers' Guild
The Sampling Officials (), also called Syndics of the Drapers’ Guild, is a 1662 oil painting by Rembrandt. It is currently owned by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. It has been described as his "last great collective portrait".
The men (with the exception of Bel who is an attendant as indicated by his calotte) are drapers who were elected to assess the quality of cloth that weavers offered for sale to members of their guild. Their one-year terms in
(such as an orphanage, poorhouse, hospital or "hofje") or guild were drawn from the "regenten", the upper class of Dutch society. It was a prestigious honorary office, so the regents were keen to have themselves depicted in this role. The leading portraitists of the day were commissioned to make "regentenstukken", including Rembrandt (whose "Syndics of the Drapers' Guild" is a subtle treatment of a group round a table), Frans Hals, Ferdinand Bol, and Bartholomeus van der Helst