Haarlem Guild of St. Luke

During the lifetime of Geertgen tot Sint Jans, there was probably a painter's guild in Haarlem, but all records of such an organization have been lost.

Though Haarlem, like Amsterdam with its Alteratie, reverted the Catholic rights of this Satisfactie a year later, it was this special Catholic-friendly reputation that attracted many from the south that added to the city's wealth in its golden age.

This painting was quite large, and though it shows a pottery (faience) baker as St. Luke and sculptures and woodcarvings abound in it, there is no sign of any smith work in it.

That this was necessary is evidenced by the fact that new charters were issued soon after the beeldenstorm in most Dutch cities that had converted to Protestantism and were embroiled in the Eighty Years' War.

Apparently Pieter Fransz de Grebber gave this relic to the Franciscan friar Joannes Cloribus van Brugge in 1627 for safekeeping.

It was prepared by Salomon de Bray, and he described a hierarchy of guild members that apparently met with a lot of opposition.

The signers of this proposal were Pieter de Molijn, Outgert Ariss Akersloot, Willem Claesz Heda, Salomon de Bray, Cornelis Cornelisz, Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen, Floris van Dyck, and Isaak Halinck.

[7] A recent inventory by Hessel Miedema has helped to give insight into the remains, while the Haarlem archives have been able to buy back lost records from enthusiastic researchers of the 19th century who never returned borrowed materials.