The Night Watch is one of the most famous paintings by Rembrandt Van Rijn, created in 1642 during the Dutch Golden Age. The painting is a group portrait of a company led by Captain Frans Banning Cocq, composed of able-bodied men who could protect their city or quell riots. The work is known for its dramatic use of light and shadow (tenebrism) and the illusion of motion in an otherwise static military group portrait.
Initially larger, the composition was cropped in 1715 after being moved from its original fittings to Amsterdam’s town hall. It hung in the Kloveniersdoelen until that point before being transferred to the Rijksmuseum in 1808 where it still resides today.
The painting features 34 figures, including members of the voluntary guard, a standard-bearer, a drummer, and a young girl. The primary function of those depicted was to serve as defenders within their cities. Furthermore, Operation Night Watch conducted at Rijksmuseum has revealed new findings about how Rembrandt worked on his masterpiece that remains an icon and hallmark example of seventeenth-century Dutch painting.
