The heads of the cloth makers' guild
|
| The heads of the cloth makers' guild |
|---|
| Rembrandt van Rijn , 1662 |
| Oil on canvas |
| 191.5 x 279 cm |
| Rijksmuseum Amsterdam |
The head of the cloth makers' guild (Dutch original title: Staalmeesters ) is a painting by the Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn . The work, created in 1662 and measuring 191.5 × 279 cm, is now in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam .
description
The five “Staalmeesters” sit behind a table covered with a red carpet with their backs to a paneled wall. Behind them stands the caretaker, bareheaded. The five are a committee of the Cloth Makers Guild. Your task is to check the quality of the materials on the basis of specified criteria laid down in a sample book. On the back wall, barely recognizable, hangs a small picture with a lighthouse on it, as a symbol for exemplary behavior and an instruction for the right path.
The meeting table with its narrow side stands in front of the wall paneling. The chairman presides over it. Two members each have their place on the left and right on the long sides. In perspective, the table is seen in such a way that the three gentlemen on the right appear lined up according to the seating arrangement. The gentleman on the left has moved his armchair up to the window wall. His neighbor on the left is about to rise and straighten.
The oblique perspective view and the dissolution of the seating arrangement on the left make the committee members appear as a rhythmically balanced group of five. The chairman holds his right open hand over the open book to explain. The man on his left has his hand ready to look up. At the same time, attention is drawn to someone opposite. This influence determines the picture.
All in all, it is an extraordinarily harmonious composition that achieves a high degree of naturalness through the posture of each individual figure.
literature
- Funkkolleg art. A history of art in the course of its functions , edited by Werner Busch, Volume II, Piper, Munich and Zurich April 1987.
- Michael Bockemühl: Rembrandt 1606–1669: The riddle of the apparition , Benedikt Taschen, Cologne 1991.
- Hermann Bauer: Baroque in the Netherlands. Painting of the Netherlands in the 17th century . In: Epochs and Styles - Painting of the Baroque, ed. by Ingo F. Walter, Benedikt Taschen, Cologne 1997.
- Bob Haak: Rembrandt - Life and Work , DuMont, Cologne 1976.
- Emile Meijer: The art treasures in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam , CH Beck, Munich 1985.
