Rembrandt Night Watch
Artist: Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch b. 1606 d. 1669)
Date: 1642
Dimensions: 12’2” x 14’7”
Medium: oil on canvas
Current location: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Period: Baroque
Genre: group portraiture (masquerading as history painting)

Quick Notes:
  • The painting depicts a fictional mustering of a company of the civic guard led by Captain
    Frans Banning Cocq (the large figure wearing black in the center foreground) and his
    lieutenant, Willem van Ruytenburgh (wearing the buff colored outfit). Rembrandt
    creatively puts the more important man in the black clothing that makes him recede in
    space vs. his lieutenant, but his massive white ruff and red sash serve as a pedestal for his
    portrait.
  • The painting was originally larger, but it was cut down. The lost parts of the painting
    made it clear that the company was striding through a large archway in the background
    and then over a bridge in the foreground.
  • The painting was lighter when it was painted as well. It has darkened with age, thus
    earning the name The Night Watch, but it was actually meant to be a daytime scene.
  • Prof. Simon Schama of Columbia University has suggested that the half-obscured face
    seen above and to the left of Captain Banning Cocq is a self portrait. Rembrandt is
    famous for his many self portraits, and this little detail bears the hallmarks of the artist’s
    visage; namely the bulbous nose, searching eye, and beret.
  • Although the painting is group portrait, Rembrandt has tried to elevate it to the status of
    history painting by animating the entire scene with buzzing activity and creating a sense
    of forward motion. By posing the guardsmen in action instead of in neat rows (compare
    with examples by Frans Hals), the artist has added drama and purpose to the portrait.

Suggested Compare-Contrast Target:
  • Uccello, Battle of San Romano

Writing Prompts:
  • In what ways does this painting epitomize the Baroque style?
  • How have changes to the painting's dimensions and surface affected our understanding
    of it?

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