The exhibition and catalogue are dedicated to a forgotten chapter of art history, the painter's trial or masterpiece. This is the work of an artist that he had to submit for examination at the end of his training in order to be allowed to sign his paintings as a master, to run his own workshop and to train himself. The articles convey an idea of the painter's position as a craftsman and the rights and duties associated with it, as well as the concerns of the municipal authorities. At the same time, the ambivalent relationship of the painters to their guild is discussed, from which they expected protection on the one hand, but from whose constraints they wanted to free themselves as "autonomous artists" on the other. Painters outside the guild system are also discussed. In addition, the development of painter training in academies and drawing schools is traced and the phenomenon of the academy recording piece, which can be considered parallel to the master painter piece, is examined.