Reading and comprehending the painting style and art can take time and effort. People rarely look at an artwork in the way it should be interpreted until the story behind it is told aloud. Renowned paintings must remain visible in the art and culture and be appreciated by all. The significance of such paintings must be spread across society for people to fully comprehend what the artist attempted to express to them about history, politics, lifestyle, and people. Isn’t it strange how the world’s most famous painting has been given a name that isn’t its name? The so-called Night Watch sequence does not take place at night; it takes place during the day.
The artist did not offer this title, but the public started regarding it as ‘The Night Watch’ towards the end of the 18th Century. The painting’s original title is officers and Men of the Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq and Lieutenant Wilhelm van Ruytenburgh. The enormous canvas was commissioned to exhibit in the dining hall of Amsterdam’s Musketeers’ Meeting Hall (Kloveniersdoelen).
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was a Dutch Baroque painter and printmaker regarded as one of the greatest storytellers in art history, with a remarkable skill to depict people in varied emotions and dramatic contexts. Rembrandt primarily produced portraits early in his career and continued to paint various artworks throughout. One-tenth of his painted and printed output is made up of studies of his face and more formal self-portraits, which has sparked much curiosity.
Rembrandt van Rijn’s ‘The Night Watch (1642) is considered one of the most iconic paintings. He was the first to capture the characters in a group portrait in action, with the city guardsmen taking up their positions in preparation for the march. Rembrandt’s Night Watch is an example of a particular form of painting that was only found in the Northern Netherlands, with most commissions coming from the city of Amsterdam. The idea behind this painting was to invoke a sense of pride and civic duty among the public. The key responsibility of these guardsmen was to protect their cities. ‘The Night Watch’ artwork is noteworthy for three key pillars: its magnificent size (12 feet by fourteen feet), the contrasting dramatic use of light and shadows, and the sense of movement in what would have traditionally been a stationary military group portrait. Simply put, they were in charge of safeguarding gates, patrolling streets, putting out fires, and generally keeping the city in order. Rather than the usual format of tedious rows of figures, Rembrandt animates his portrait.
Light And Shadow Play | The Night Watch
Rembrandt draws the viewer’s attention to three prominent individuals among the crowd, using effective use of sunlight and shade: the two men in the centre (from whom the painting receives its original title) and the woman in the centre-left background carrying a chicken who is vaguely named as ‘The Golden Girl’. The company’s colours are carried behind them by the ensign, Jan Visscher Cornelissen. The figures are nearly life-sized.
The painting represents a hierarchy using light and shadow. The militia’s essential positions are in solid shades and are illuminated, but the minor stations are in lower light and are darkened. Such stark contrasts of light and shade were unusual in 17th-century group portraits. A small detail that pinpoints the utility and beauty of light is the captain’s hand casts a shadow on the costume worn by Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch. This indicates the direction from which the light falls in the painting.
Symbolism
Artwork can express far more than just color and form. It can portray emotions and ideas, tell stories, and even question and perplex. Only some things are instantly noticeable, and deciphering the actual meaning of any work might take time and effort. The “Night Watch” depicts such elements and concepts. While the scenario is not placed at sundown, the painting contains much meaning. One path to interpret is the concentration on minor details, how the strokes play a crucial role, the contrast of whites and blacks, and the actual significance behind each individual.
Behind the group of military men is Rembrandt himself, a man with only one eye visible and wearing a beret in the faint light. He dressed up as a member of the militia. He can be seen over Captain Banning Cocq’s right shoulder. Three of the five musketeers are given a significant position right behind the captain and lieutenant, performing the basic tasks necessary to handle a musket in sequential order properly. Rembrandt appears to have been influenced by weaponry guides of the time in his depiction of these steps.
The Golden Girl | The Night Watch
It might be very surprising to see a young girl placed in between the scene, painted with bright golden strokes. It must be confusing to figure out why the artist put him in the painting. The scene does not happen on a battlefield. Militias were primarily ceremonial and not functional. These described men have most likely never been in a genuine war throughout their life.
The young girl to the left and behind Banning Cocq, who is vaguely named “The Golden Girl’ serves as a visual mascot. Adorned in a beautiful golden dress, she is depicted possessing the clan’s exquisite drinking horn and a dead chicken. The prominent claw is an emblem of the Musketeers, at her girdle. Behind this claw, which can be seen a type of pistol known as a ‘klover’. The dead chicken also depicts a defeated enemy. The ‘Kloveniers’, or Arquebusiers, and the girl is the company’s mascot.
On January 13, 1911, an impoverished navy cook slashed The Night Watch with a knife, apparently in protest of his unemployment. On September 14, 1975, a second knife attack happened, this time by a Dutch schoolteacher who believed destroying it was his holy duty. Following that, the picture was placed under constant surveillance. Yet, on April 6, 1990, a jobless Dutchman sprayed concentrated sulfuric acid on the artwork. Restorations could fix the damage each time, leaving a fight imprint barely.
The varnish coating got so thick over the years that it defended the canvas from a knife attack in 1911. In the 1940s, the varnish was removed, but the title remained. The painting was restored the last time in 1946-1947. The Rijksmuseum initiated the most extensive study and repair project on The Night Watch in July 2019. The picture has been relocated and is now displayed in the Gallery of Honour.
Citations:
Online Sources:
- Singulart Magazine. (2019). Rembrandt’s Night Watch and The Dutch Golden Age. [online] Available at: https://blog.singulart.com/en/2019/10/11/rembrandts-night-watch-and-the-dutch-golden-age/.
- Stanska, Z. (2020). 15 Things You May Not Know About The Night Watch by Rembrandt. [online] DailyArtMagazine.com – Art History Stories. Available at: https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/15-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-night-watch-by-rembrandt/.
- Khan Academy. (n.d.). Rembrandt, The Night Watch (article). [online] Available at: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/baroque-art1/holland/a/rembrandt-the-night-watch.
- Google Arts & Culture. (n.d.). The Night Watch. [online] Available at: https://artsandculture.google.com/story/dALSivMco4xIJA.
- Wikipedia Contributors (2019). The Night Watch. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_Watch.
- www.visual-arts-cork.com. (n.d.). The Night Watch, Rembrandt: Analysis, Meaning. [online] Available at: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/famous-paintings/night-watch.htm#evaluation [Accessed 18 Nov. 2022].
- VanGoYourself. (n.d.). The Night Watch. [online] Available at: https://vangoyourself.com/paintings/the-night-watch/.
- gohighbrow.com. (2015). The Night Watch by Rembrandt | Highbrow. [online] Available at: https://gohighbrow.com/the-night-watch-by-rembrandt/.
- van de Wetering, E. (2019). Rembrandt van Rijn | Biography, Paintings, & Facts. In: Encyclopædia Britannica. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rembrandt-van-Rijn.
- Myers, N. (2019). Symbolism. [online] Metmuseum.org. Available at: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/symb/hd_symb.htm.
