en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syndics_of_the_Drapers'_Guild
2 corrections found
The guild commissioned this portrait
Museum provenance records say the portrait was commissioned by the sitters themselves, not by the guild as an institution.
Full reasoning
The claim attributes the commission to the guild, but the Rijksmuseum's own provenance entry for this painting states: "Commissioned by the sitters for the hall of the Drapers' Guild". Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen likewise says of a preparatory study for one of the depicted men: "This painting was commissioned by the depicted for the hall of the Drapers' Guild."
So the painting was commissioned by the portrayed wardens/sitters for display in the guild hall, rather than by the guild itself as the commissioning party.
2 sources
- The Sampling Officials of the Amsterdam Drapers' Guild, Known as 'The Syndics' - Rijksmuseum
Provenance: Commissioned by the sitters for the hall of the Drapers' Guild (Staalhof), Staalstraat, Amsterdam; transferred to the 'Konstkamer' in the Town Hall, Amsterdam, 27 November 1771.
- Study for one of the Syndics, Volkert Jansz. - Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
He was one of the most wealthy and important cloth merchants in Amsterdam, and was one of the five directors of the Drapers' Guild. This painting was commissioned by the depicted for the hall of the Drapers' Guild.
The open book likely concerns the guild's accounting records.
Official descriptions identify the book on the table as an open sample book used in cloth inspection, not accounting records.
Full reasoning
This sentence misidentifies the book. The Rijksmuseum's object description says the officials are gathered around a table with "het opengeslagen stalenboek" on it — literally, the open sample book. Getty Images' editorial caption for a reproduction of the work says the same thing in English: the men are gathered around the table with "the open sample book on the table."
Because the painting depicts sampling officials inspecting cloth, identifying the book as a sample book fits the documented subject matter much better than calling it the guild's accounting records.
2 sources
- The Sampling Officials of the Amsterdam Drapers' Guild, Known as 'The Syndics' - Rijksmuseum
Description: De Staalmeesters: het college van staalmeesters ... bijeen rond een tafel waarop een Perzisch kleed ligt, op tafel het opengeslagen stalenboek.
- The Syndics - Getty Images editorial caption
The Syndics: the college of syndics or valuers of the Amsterdam cloth makers' guild, gathered around a table on which a Persian cloth lies, the open sample book on the table.