Pieter Pietersz. the Elder: Six waardijns of the drapers' guild (1599)

(Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

A painting by the Dutch artist Pieter Pietersz. the elder (1540/41-1603). This piece show six so-called 'waardijns', the supervisors and directors, of the drapers' guild of Amsterdam. Their tasks was to assess the quality of cloth, selecting the types of wool and how the wool should be dyed and woven (to ensure the quality of the end-product). A rather stiff group portrait, the names of these important men have been preserved. Present are:

- Jacob Jansz. Benningh
- Lambert Pietersz.
- Hendrick Servaesz. (1559-1642), cloth merchant and 'kaffaworker' (kaffa is a type of velvet)
- Gijsbert Michielsz.
- Hendrick Boelensz. (1542-163), cloth merchant, captain of the civic guard
- Thomas Prins - the man in the upper left corner, he was a servant within the drapers' guild

The frame of the painting also has a text: "DOOR GVNST OF HAET OF EYGEBAET / GEEN OORDEEL GEEFT / BETREET V EEDT INT GHVNT GHY WEET / OPRECHTLICK LEEFT", which translates to something like: "By favor or hatred or self-interest / give no judgement / treat your oath inasmuch as you know / reliability lives"

Painting from 1599