Widely regarded as Rembrandt’s masterpiece, the full title of this group painting is The Company of captain Frans Banning Cocq and lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch preparing to march out. A highlight of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, The Night Watch is renowned for its immense size (11.91 ft × 14.34 ft), its dramatic use of chiaroscuro and the perception of motion in what would have traditionally been a static military portrait.
In 1642 Rembrandt received the prestigious commission to decorate the Banqueting Hall of the Civic Guard in Amsterdam. Captain Frans Banning Cocq (1605-55) asked Rembrandt to paint a group portrait of his precinct guard. The canvas portrays the captain directing his lieutenant, Willem van Ruytenburch, how to order the company to march out. The captain is presented in black with a red sash, whilst the lieutenant is portrayed in pale yellow, carrying a ceremonial lance. At first it would appear the brighter dressed man is in charge of the Guard, due to the more ornate and expensive clothing he is wearing. However, Rembrandt is in fact conveying a sense of the man’s vanity. We are informed of the actual leader’s identity by the glaring red sash draped across the captain and the hand he holds out, giving the order to lead out the men. It is a masterful demonstration of foreshortening, which has been admired by artists and art critics for centuries, clearly exhibiting Rembrandt’s painterly dexterity. The captain’s superiority is further reinforced by how his outstretched arm casts a shadow over the lieutenant.
To the right of the arch, a shield, which was added later, depicts the names of eighteen of the persons portrayed. According to two of them that gave evidence on Rembrandt’s behalf during the investigation into his financial affairs in 1658, the artist was paid a total of 1,600 guilders, while the sitters contributed an average of 100 guilders each, the sum varying in degrees to their prominence in the picture.
The Night Watch was first hung in the Groote Zaal (Great Hall) or Amsterdam’s Kloveniersdoelen. This structure currently houses the Doelen Hotel. In 1715, the painting was moved to the Amsterdam Town Hall, for which it was altered. When Napoleon occupied the Netherlands, the Town Hall became the Palace on the Dam and the magistrates moved the painting to the Trippenhuis of the family Trip. Napoleon ordered the painting to be returned, but after the occupation ended in 1813, the canvas again went to the Trippenhuis, which now houses the Dutch Academy of Sciences. The Night Watch moved to the new Rijksmuseum when the building was finished in 1885.
Interestingly, since the cleaning of the picture in 1946, it has been revealed that the scene actually takes place in daylight, with the sun streaming down from the top left of the canvas. A further cleaning completed in 1980 revealed that the original tones were predominantly cool and that the traditional title of The Night Watch, which dates from the late 1700’s, is in essence an incorrect title.