Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn (1662)

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www.rijksmuseum.nl/

Rembrandt has portrayed the five syndics or sampling officials of the Amsterdam Drapers' Guild as if they are looking up from their work for a moment. On the table around which the five men are sitting is a book, probably used a record of the accounts. A servant is standing at the back - the only one wearing a skullcap rather than a hat. The board of sampling officials controlled the quality of dyed ' laken' cloth, a fine woollen fabric. To compare the quality of the different bales, they used samples of cloth - hence the name sampling officials. Rembrandt's Sampling Officials is a masterpiece among Dutch group portraits.