The Syndics of the Clothmaker's Guild

Painted in 1662, this work shows five officials of the Amsterdam cloth makers' guild, along with their servant standing in the background. These men were called the Syndics, and their job was to inspect the quality of dyed cloth and make sure no one cheated. Rembrandt gathered them around a table covered with a rich red carpet, an open ledger book in front of them, as if we have just walked into the middle of their meeting. A few of the men seem to glance up at us, which gives the painting a surprising sense of being caught in a real moment.

Rembrandt was a master of light and shadow, and you can see it here in the warm glow on their faces and the deep darkness behind them. He worked hard to make each man look like a true individual, with his own expression and personality, rather than painting them all the same. There is a clever trick at play too. Because the figures are positioned slightly above us, looking down, the painting was meant to hang high on a wall so viewers would feel they were looking up at these respectable gentlemen. This is one of the last great group portraits Rembrandt made, created near the end of his life when his fame had faded and his finances were a mess, yet his skill clearly had not.