Art! Art! Art! › Works

The Night Watch

Rembrandt, 1642

Rembrandt's The Night Watch, dated 1642, is a group portrait of a civic militia company painted as a scene in motion rather than a formal row of sitters. Its collection is recorded as the Amsterdam Museum and the Rijksmuseum, with the location listed as the Nightwatch hall. At 363 by 437 centimetres, it is a painting you take in from a distance first, then study detail by detail.

Where to see it

The fact sheet lists the painting's collection as the Amsterdam Museum and the Rijksmuseum, and its location as the Nightwatch hall. Before you plan a trip around this one painting, check the official website of the Rijksmuseum (and, if needed, the Amsterdam Museum) for current display status, opening hours and ticketing. Large works like this can occasionally be affected by conservation work or gallery changes, so confirming in advance is the safest way to make sure you see it.

What to look for in person

The captain and his lieutenant

Start at the centre foreground. The man in black with a red sash is the company's captain, Frans Banninck Cocq, his hand extended as if giving an order. Beside him, in pale yellow, is his lieutenant, Willem van Ruytenburch. Look at the lieutenant's coat: the shadow of the captain's hand falls across it, a small detail that ties the two figures together in space. Their contrasting colours, dark against light, make them the anchor of the whole composition, while everyone else seems to be moving around them.

Light, shadow and movement

Rather than lining the militiamen up evenly, Rembrandt shows the company stirring into action: a musket being loaded, another fired, a banner raised, a drummer at the right. Step back and notice how strong light picks out a few figures while others recede into darkness. This uneven lighting guides your eye through the crowd and creates a sense of depth and noise. The dark tone of the picture is also why it later became known as The Night Watch, although the scene is not set at night.

The girl in gold

To the left of the captain, slightly behind him, a small girl glows in golden light. Look for the dead chicken hanging from her belt, its claws clearly visible. Art historians generally read her as a symbolic figure for the militia company rather than a portrait of an actual member: the claw was an emblem of the Kloveniers, the arquebusiers' guild that commissioned the painting. She is one of the brightest spots on the canvas and a good example of how Rembrandt mixed portraiture with storytelling and symbolism.

About the painting

The Night Watch, dated 1642, is Rembrandt's large group portrait of a company of Amsterdam's civic militia, led by Captain Frans Banninck Cocq and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch. Group portraits of militia companies were a familiar type in the Dutch Republic, usually commissioned by the members themselves to hang in their headquarters. Traditionally, such pictures arranged the sitters in tidy rows so each face received equal attention. Rembrandt took a different approach. He turned the commission into a moment of action, with men checking weapons, unfurling a flag and stepping forward, as if the company were about to march out. The painting was made for the Kloveniersdoelen, the meeting hall of the arquebusiers' militia. The familiar title is not the original one. Over time the varnish darkened, and the scene came to look like a night setting, which gave rise to the name used today. Cleaning has shown that the light is closer to daylight than the title suggests, though Rembrandt's strong contrasts of light and shadow remain central to the work. In front of the painting, its scale of 363 by 437 centimetres is part of the experience. Give yourself time to move between a far view, where the composition reads as a diagonal surge of figures, and a closer view, where you can pick out faces, weapons, the shield listing names near the archway, and the textures of costume and metal. It rewards slow looking more than a quick photo stop.

Key facts

More by Rembrandt

• Rembrandt and Saskia in the parable of the Prodigal Son — Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
• Belshazzar's Feast — National Gallery
• Syndics of the Drapers' Guild — Rijksmuseum
• The Abduction of Europa — J. Paul Getty Museum
• Juno
• The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis — Rijksmuseum
• The Storm on the Sea of Galilee
• Danaë
• Aristotle with a Bust of Homer — Metropolitan Museum of Art
• The Stoning of Saint Stephen
• The Mill — National Gallery of Art
• Bathsheba at Her Bath — Louvre Museum

Sources

• Wikidata Q219831
• www.rijksmuseum.nl