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<h2 id="composition-and-style">Composition and Style</h2> <p>Rembrandt likely considered the placement of the painting on the wall, as he chose a perspective with a fairly low vantage point, allowing the viewer to look up at the table from below. This angle magnifies the stature of the "staalmeesters" (cloth inspectors) enhancing their sense of importance. He also likely adjusted the lighting in the painting to match the actual lighting of the location where the painting was originally intended to hang. The paneling in the background of the painting likely matched the original interior design of the room in the Staalhof. The work was probably hung quite high in the room, above a mantelpiece, so the upward perspective had a practical function: it matched the viewer's line of sight in the room. This perspective makes the tabletop invisible, showing only the view of a heavy, rich tablecloth. This technique allowed Rembrandt to position the figures almost in a straight line: five dark shapes, their white collars, and the serious, frontal gazes of the "staalmeesters," fully aware of the importance of their role. This arrangement presents the viewer with a row of five distinguished, intense faces, aligned almost horizontally but with a slight oscillation like lanterns.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Regents_group_portrait/cXUGgbv1">Regents group portrait</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/List_of_paintings_by_Rembrandt/l5efRnKI">List of paintings by Rembrandt</a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Sampling Officials by Rembrandt. <ul><li><i><a href="http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/SK-C-6">The Sampling Officials</a></i> at the <a href="/facts/Rijksmuseum_Amsterdam/ejzMsloM">Rijksmuseum Amsterdam</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.innl.nl/person/3265/nl">Jacob van Loon biography</a> (in Dutch)</li> <li><a href="https://www.innl.nl/person/3266/nl">Volckert Jansz biography</a> (in Dutch)</li> <li><a href="https://www.innl.nl/person/3267/nl">Willem van Doeyenburg biography</a> (in Dutch)</li> <li><a href="https://www.innl.nl/person/3268/nl">Frans Hendricksz Bel biography</a> (in Dutch)</li> <li><a href="https://www.innl.nl/person/3269/nl">Aernout van der Mye biography</a> (in Dutch)</li> <li><a href="https://www.innl.nl/person/3270/nl">Jochem de Neve biography</a> (in Dutch)</li> <li><a href="http://www.the-staalmeesters.com/en/text.html">Wolfgang Kosack "A second Rembrandt"</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>[1]. Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. Retrieved on 2008-05-03. <a href="https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/my/collections/138928--bernard-de-groot/gilde/objecten#/SK-C-6,0" target="_blank">https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/my/collections/138928--bernard-de-groot/gilde/objecten#/SK-C-6,0</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>The Worldwide Art Gallery. "Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606 - 1669)". Theartgallery.com.au. Retrieved 2014-04-08. <a href="http://www.theartgallery.com.au/ArtEducation/greatartists/Rembrandt/about/" target="_blank">http://www.theartgallery.com.au/ArtEducation/greatartists/Rembrandt/about/</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Juran, Joseph M., ed. (1995), A History of Managing for Quality: The Evolution, Trends, and Future Directions of Managing for Quality, Milwaukee, Wisconsin: The American Society for Quality Control, p. 229, ISBN 9780873893411, OCLC 32394752 <a href="9780873893411" target="_blank">9780873893411</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Ageeth Scherphuis, Tegenover een schilderij moet je je bescheiden gedragen, in: Vrij Nederland, 7 december 1991, p. 50 <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Micklethwait, John; Wooldridge, Adrian (11 January 2005). The Company: A Short History of a Revolutionary Idea. Random House Publishing. ISBN 9780812972870. <a href="9780812972870" target="_blank">9780812972870</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Wieseman, Marjorie E. (2014) Artistieke conventies, in: Bikker, Jonathan & Weber, Gregor J.M. Late Rembrandt, p. 124 + 129 <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>