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The Night Watch is a major plot device in the eponymous 1995 film, Night Watch, which focuses on the painting's theft. The Night Watch is parodied on the British cover of Terry Pratchett's 2002 book by the same name.
Apr 30, 2024 · The Night Watch, formally known as Militia Company of District II Under the Command of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq (the painting’s simpler, widely known title, first recorded in 1797, was erroneously given to it due to its thick, dark yellow varnish), is ostensibly a genre scene out of the 17th-century Dutch Baroque.
- The Painting. So famous a picture, which in the past has been almost as much abused as praised, has not surpringly triggered an immense amount of analysis, only some of which can be discussed here.
- Inaccurate Title. At least since the cleaning of the picture in 1946-7, it has been evident that the scene takes place in daylight, with the sun streaming down from the top left.
- Key Figures. Demonstrating his mastery of sunlight and shade, Rembrandt leads the eye to the three key characters among the ensemble - the two officers in the centre (from whom the painting gets its original title), and the small girl in the centre left background.
- Other Subjects. The man in front of the girl is wearing a helmet with an oak leaf, another traditional emblem of the Musketeers or Arquebusiers. Several figures are shown handling their weapons.
By Dr. Wendy Schaller. View of Rembrandt van Rijn, The Night Watch, 1642, oil on canvas, 379.5 x 453.5 cm (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; photo: Henk Bekker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) A night watch? Would it surprise you to find that the title that Rembrandt’s most famous painting is known by is actually incorrect?
- Cleaning a painting is a labor intensive undertaking and can fundamentally change the way we see and even understand a work of art. Cleaning can br...
- He was paid enough, but not enough. See: http://www.rembrandtpainting.net/rembrandt_life_and_work.htm and learn "Despite Rembrandt's financial succ...
- If there is, you'll find it explained here: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/famous-paintings/night-watch.htm#evaluation
- Remember they're not actually in the middle of battle since at the time militias were mostly ceremonial and not functional. These men had probably...
- The actual name is "The Company of captain Frans Banning Cocq and lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch preparing to march out." In the 18th century th...
- The Night Watch is not happening at night. For hundreds of years, the painting was coated with a dark varnish and dirt, which misled scholars into thinking that it depicted a nocturnal scene, hence its common title.
- The official title of the painting is much longer and more complicated. By the way, the official version of the title is Militia Company of District II under the Command of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq (Dutch: De compagnie van kapitein Frans Banninck Cocq en luitenant Willem van Ruytenburgh maakt zich gereed om uit te marcheren).
- It was made for the arquebusiers guild hall. The large canvas was commissioned to hang in the banquet hall of Musketeers’ Meeting Hall (Kloveniersdoelen) in Amsterdam.
- We don’t know where it was created. The painting itself must have been too large to be completed in Rembrandt’s atelier located in his still-existing house (modern address Jodenbreestraat 4, now known as the Rembrandt House Museum).
Dec 6, 2023 · Would it surprise you to find that the title that Rembrandt’s most famous painting is known by is actually incorrect? The so-called Night Watch is not a night scene at all; it actually takes place during the day. This title, which was not given by the artist, was first applied at the end of the eighteenth century.
The nickname Night Watch originated much later, when the painting was thought to represent a nocturnal scene. On display in Gallery of Honour Visit via the The best of the Rijksmuseum tour Visit via the Rembrandt tour. Download image. Listen to audio fragment (from the multimedia tour) Collections with this work. Portraits. 17e. Recherches.
