Inspired by: Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn - The Night Watch
The Night Watch acquired its title in the 1790s. By then the painting’s varnish had darkened so much it looked like a night scene. Before then it was known by several titles, one being The Shooting Company of Frans Banning Cocq and Willem van Ruytenburch. Captain Cocqcommissioned the painting of his men, but only 18 of the 34 characters in the painting are portraits, the remaining are symbolic.
In 1642 the painting was hung in the club house of the civil militia. It stayed there for 70 years. In 1715 the painting was moved from there to the Town Hall. It didn’t fit there so it was cropped on all four sides to fit between the building’s narrow columns. Fortunately, Cocq had ordered a small copy to be made and The Riksmuseum used this smaller version to recreate the missing parts, which can now be seen again (the Santa Classic is the old version of the painting).
Rembrandt loved to stick himself and family members in his paintings. He is way in the back, and all you can see is his profile from the neck up. The little girl who functions symbolically as the group' mascot is daughter Saskia. Son Titus’ ear is just behind her.
Museum fires have caused the loss of great works of art, so Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum has gone to great lengths to protect Rembrandt’s masterpiece. To preserve The Night Watch in emergencies, in 1934 the Rijksmuseum installed a trap door complete with escape slide.
To see the original: https://bit.ly/4jSxLAf