Haarlem Guild of St. Luke

The Haarlem Guild of Saint Luke was first a Christian, and later a city Guild for various trades falling under the patron saints Luke the Evangelist and Saint Eligius.

History

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. If one existed, it would probably have been associated with the Janskerk (Haarlem), where Geertgen was active as a respected painter. The earliest mention of the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke is from 1496, when the heirs of ''Joost Huge Alboutsdr'', who had been the former owner of the location of the altar in the Sint-Bavokerk, ceded all altar rights which up to then had been for the Ascension of the Virgin, to the ''Guild of St. Luke and St. Eligius''.''Sint Lucas Gilde te Haarlem in 1631.'' Medegedeeld door den Adj.-Archivaris van Haarlem C. J. Gonnet, 1877, North Holland Archives, Haarlem. This is possibly also the year that the Guild switched its altar from the Janskerk to the Bavokerk. The guild was for painters and gold- and silversmiths, with St. Luke being the patron saint of the painters, and St. Eligius being the patron saint for the smiths.

Earliest charter

The earliest charter for the guild no longer exists, but the earliest one still in the archives is from 1514. That charter remained in effect until the ''beeldenstorm'', whereupon the guild altar found temporary housing in the Vrouwenbroerskerk, since the Bavokerk had become Protestant and all the guilds had left the church. The Vrouwenbroerskerk was the church of the Carmelites, whose monastery is gone, but whose archives survive today. Of the original complex, only the entrance gate still stands on the ''Grote Houtstraat''. These archives recorded that a kessophel (chasuble) was donated to this altar in 1575 by Elisabeth van Dorp. After Haarlem lost the Siege of Haarlem in 1573, it became a Catholic enclave that officially fell under the rule of Philip II of Spain. It wasn't until 1577 that the local bishop Godfried van Mierlo set his seal to the ''Satisfactie van Haarlem'' wherein he promised to swear allegiance to Willem the Silent rather than Philip II, on the condition that the Catholics would keep the same rights as Protestants. 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.

In 1576, a decision was made on September 28 to make a devotional piece for St. Eligius, since only St. Luke was now represented. This referred to the painting by Martin van Heemskerck, which does not display St. Eligius, but shows St. Luke painting the Virgin. 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. The signed ''paper'' attached at the bottom of the painting is recorded by Karel van Mander and states that Heemskerck painted it for his colleagues in the guild. Heemskerk had painted this before he traveled to Italy, and when he came back he became charter master of the guild from 1550-1552. Apparently the smiths were dissatisfied with their representation in the running of the guild, and this caused a guild dispute, because the goldsmiths broke away into their own guild in 1576, only to return in the charter of 1590.

Charter of 1590

After the Siege of Antwerp in 1585, many families fled north and since Antwerp was a major center for painting, the Haarlem market was flooded with professional painters who competed with Haarlem's own craftsmen. To protect the market, a new charter was issued in 1590. 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.

Some guild membership grants after the Reformation

* 1593: Cornelis Engelsz, (father of Johannes Cornelisz Verspronck)See the RKD page for this artist
* 1597: Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen
* 1600: Frans Pietersz de Grebber, (father of the painters Pieter, Maria, and Albert)
* 1610: Frans Hals, (father of the painters Harmen, Frans (the Younger), Reynier, and Nicolaes), Floris Claesz van Dijck
* 1612: Willem Buytewech, Esaias van de Velde, Hercules Seghers
* 1613: Jan van de Velde
* 1614: Jacob van Campen
* 1616: Pieter de Molyn
* 1617: Jan van Goyen
* 1623: Salomon van Ruysdael, Pieter Saenredam, Pieter Post, Hans Bollongier, Johannes Bosschaert
* 1628: Pieter Soutman,Miedema, page 1039 Jan Matham), Jan Wils
* 1630: Salomon de Bray, (father of the painters Jan, Dirck, and Jozef)
* 1631: Willem de Poorter