Confrerie Pictura

The Confrerie Pictura was a more or less academic club of artists founded in 1656 in The Hague (the Netherlands) by local art painters, who were unsatisfied by the Guild of Saint Luke there.

The guild of St. Luke in the Hague existed already in the 15th century and like most large Dutch cities, it catered not just to painters, but were united also with glaziers, engravers, sculptors, goldsmiths, printers and book sellers.

In addition, with the influx of talented painters from the Southern Netherlands cities such as Antwerp, the guild fathers felt that more protective measures were necessary.

When securing a new protective charter for the St. Luke's guild failed to have the desired effect, the Confrerie Pictura was set up by 48 dissatisfied painters.

In 1682, several members of Confrerie Pictura: Willem Doudijns, Daniel Mijtens the Younger, Augustinus Terwesten, Theodor van der Schuer and Robbert Duval, founded a proper art school called The Hague Drawing Academy.

The Boterwaag on the Prinsegracht in Den Haag. The leftmost side was the original building from 1650 with the swan above the door. The painters moved in when the butter weighing moved to the larger right side extension.
Koorenhuis on Prinsegracht 27, built in 1662–1663, now an arts center, only the facade and hall remain of the original building.
Prinsegracht in The Hague, ± 1850, by Jan Weissenbruch
Engraving by Simon Fokke after Aart Schouman of a drawing lesson from live model at the "Teken-Akademi der Haagsche Kunstschilders", first published in 1750 in Johan van Gool 's "Nieuwe Schouburg