LOTH GUILD

The word syndic is a name applied to an officer of a corporation, and
this is its meaning in the title of the picture, The Syndics of the
Cloth Guild. In Holland, as in England and France and elsewhere in
Europe, guilds were associations of tradesmen or artisans united for
purposes of mutual help and for the interests of their respective
industries. In some points they were the forerunners of modern trades
unions, except that the members were proprietary merchants and master
craftsmen instead of employees, and their purpose was the advancement
of commercial interests in municipal affairs, instead of the
protection of labor against capital. There were guilds of mercers,
wine merchants, goldsmiths, painters and many others.

Now the wool industry was one of the most important in Holland, hence
the Guild of Drapers or Cloth Workers was a dignified association in
several cities. There was one in Leyden, where Rembrandt was born, and
another in Amsterdam, where he passed the most of his life. Amsterdam
was at that time the foremost commercial city of Europe. Its guilds
had fine halls, ornamented with works of art painted by the best
contemporary artists. It was for this purpose that Rembrandt received
from the Amsterdam Cloth Guild the commission to paint a portrait
group of their five officers, and he accordingly delivered to them in
1661 the great picture of which we have this little reproduction to
examine.

Just as in the picture of the Civic Guard he had given life to the
portraits, by showing the members in some action appropriate to their
military character, so here he represents the officers of the guild in
surroundings suggestive of their duties. They are gathered about a
table covered with a rich scarlet cloth, on which rests the great
ledger of the corporation. They are engaged in balancing their
accounts and preparing a report for the year, and a servant awaits
their order in the rear of the apartment. Their task seems a pleasant
one, for whatever difficulties have arisen during their
administration, it is evident that the outcome is successful. They
take a quiet satisfaction in the year's record.

It is as if in the midst of their consultations, as they turn the
leaves of the ledger, we suddenly open the door into the room. They
are surprised but not disturbed by the intrusion, and look genially
towards the newcomers. The younger man at the end welcomes us with a
smile. Next to him is one who