Completed in 1642, at the peak of the Dutch Golden Age, The Night Watch is one of the most famous paintings by Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn. The painting is renowned for three characteristics: its colossal size (363 cm × 437 cm), the effective use of light and shadow, and the perception of motion in what would have traditionally been a static military portrait. It depicts a city guard moving out, led by Captain Frans Banning Cocq and his lieutenant, Willem van Ruytenburch.
In his painting of this scene, which later would acquire the name the Night Watch, Rembrandt revolutionized the formula of the group portrait as part of his continuing effort to achieve the ultimate liveliness in his work. Rembrandt, possibly more than any other artist, has suffered from the ministrations of picture restorers.
The infamous "Rembrandt brown" is their work, not his, and so too is the widespread impression that he was a monotonous colorist who invariably worked with a low-keyed palette. It is true that the forceful use of chiaroscuro in his paintings, with its emphasis on the mysterious, evocative qualities of shadow, has always disturbed certain critics, and so occasionally has his subject matter. For much of its existence, the painting was coated with a dark varnish which gave the incorrect impression that it depicted a night scene, leading to the name Night Watch. This varnish was removed only in the 1940s.
The present condition of the painting also reveals the work’s crucial problem, which is at the same time its most intriguing feature. Two intensely lighted figures dominate the composition: the girl in the middle ground and the lieutenant in the foreground. Both are clad in yellow costumes, which strengthens the light effect. Because of this double “spotlight” effect, the tonal values of the painting as a whole seem to be subdued. Consequently, the painting makes a dark impression that no doubt contributed to the epithet “Night Watch.”
Van Hoogstraten, who had praised the unity in the Night Watch’s composition, criticized his former master by complaining, “I would have preferred if he [Rembrandt] would have kindled more light into it.” The painting is on display in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
Photo: Wikipedia.org
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