Which guild commissioned Rembrandt’s 1632 painting The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp?

The Amsterdam Surgeons’ Guild commissioned Rembrandt’s 1632 painting The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp.

The work records a public anatomy demonstration led by Dr. Nicolaes Tulp on 16 January 1632. Tulp is shown explaining the muscles of a dissected left forearm to members of the guild. Rembrandt arranged the figures in a dramatic group composition rather than presenting a simple row of portraits.

The painting was made for the Amsterdam Surgeons’ Guild, an organization that regulated surgical practice and professional training. It helped establish Rembrandt’s reputation soon after he moved from Leiden to Amsterdam.

A frequent mistake is to call the commissioners a physicians’ guild. The event involved surgeons, and the guild’s name is the specific historical answer. The painting is now in the Mauritshuis in The Hague.