Portrait of Syndicus cloth shop by Rembrandt Harmens Van Rhine

The painting is known under the names: “Sindiki”, “Elders of the cloth workshop”; both are not entirely accurate and are related to the establishment of a clothmaker’s guild, designed to take tissue samples and check their quality. This is the last group portrait created by Rembrandt.

A peculiar, pronounced mood is achieved by the fact that officials look down on us directly, and the viewer has a feeling that he will be cross-examined and looked at him and will be blamed for something.

In fact, this viewpoint was probably approved by the customer himself, since the picture had to hang over the fireplace in the main guild building along with the earlier group portraits. Traditionally, they depicted five seated officials and a servant standing behind them. Rembrandt revived the composition by changing traditions: one official gets up from his seat, as if giving a sign that the meeting is over.