Who painted Six Wardens of the Drapers’ Guild?

Six Wardens of the Drapers’ Guild was painted by Pieter Pietersz the Elder in 1599-01-01.

Where can I see Six Wardens of the Drapers’ Guild?

Six Wardens of the Drapers’ Guild is held by Rijksmuseum.

What movement is Six Wardens of the Drapers’ Guild?

Six Wardens of the Drapers’ Guild is associated with Dutch Golden Age.

Can I buy a print of Six Wardens of the Drapers’ Guild?

Museum-quality prints of Six Wardens of the Drapers’ Guild are available made-to-order from Artifact World Gallery.

Artwork

Six Wardens of the Drapers’ Guild

Pieter Pietersz the Elder , 1600

Six Wardens of the Drapers’ Guild is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Pieter Pietersz the Elder. It dates from 1600 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.

About this work

Subject & Meaning

Their attire, dark garments with white ruffs and black hats, signals their civic and professional status as guild officials rather than religious figures.

The painting depicts six men who served as wardens of the Drapers’ Guild in Amsterdam in 1599. Their attire, dark garments with white ruffs and black hats, signals their civic and professional status as guild officials rather than religious figures. The portrait’s minimal props and sober setting focus attention on the sitters’ roles as civic leaders, emphasizing governance and guild authority.

The year 1599, inscribed in the work, anchors the image within the Dutch Republic’s late-sixteenth-century civic culture, where guilds played a central part in urban administration and public life.

The composition’s restraint and the wardens’ direct gazes underscore themes of responsibility and collective governance, aligning with contemporary Dutch ideals of civic virtue.

Technique & Style

Created in 1599, Six Wardens of the Drapers’ Guild is an oil-on-panel group portrait executed by Pieter Pietersz the Elder. The work measures 108 cm in height and 143 cm in width, utilizing a wooden support typical of Dutch Golden Age portraiture. As a formal group portrait, the painting depicts six male figures, adhering to the genre conventions of civic leadership representation.

The medium of oil paint allows for the detailed rendering of the subjects' attire and expressions within the Amsterdam context.

History & Provenance

The Six Wardens of the Drapers’ Guild was painted in 1599 by Pieter Pietersz the Elder, as indicated by the artist’s inscription and date on the work.

The painting was commissioned by the Drapers’ Guild in Amsterdam to commemorate its six wardens for that year. It remained in the guild’s possession, housed in Amsterdam, until the collection was dispersed after the guild’s dissolution in the early nineteenth century.

By the mid-nineteenth century the work had entered the holdings of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, where it has been continuously exhibited since at least 1885.

The painting is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, where it remains today.

Its current inventory number at the Rijksmuseum is SK-C-1849. The work was acquired by the museum in 1849 as part of the collection of the Amsterdam branch of the Drapers’ Guild.

It was included in the exhibition “Pieter Pietersz the Elder: Portraits of Power and Piety” held at the Rijksmuseum from 16 March to 16 June 2019.

Overview

Pieter Pietersz the Elder’s oil painting titled Six Wardens of the Drapers’ Guild was executed around the year 1600. The work portrays a group of six men dressed in black robes with white collars, gathered closely together within a dark interior. It is part of the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.