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THE ‘NIGHT WATCH’ IN DETAIL The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has produced an in-depth online digital photograph of Rembrandt’s masterpiece, featuring Dutch musketeers
Perhaps the most recognisable painting of the Dutch ‘Golden Age’ of art, De Nachtwacht (The Night Watch) was completed by Rembrandt van Rijn in 1642. It is best known for its colossal size, (363cm x 437cm), the dramatic use of light and shadow and the perception of motion in what would have traditionally been a static group portrait. It is also a fascinating insight into what would have otherwise been a forgotten military unit.
The painting was commissioned in 1639 by Captain Frans Banninck Cocq (the central figure dressed in black with a red sash) to depict him and over a dozen members of his Kloveniers (musketeers) of Amsterdam’s civic guard. The Kloveniers were voluntary citizen militiamen in the Early Modern Netherlands and Cocq’s men were paid to be included in the painting. In the scene, Cocq takes centre stage with his deputy, Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch, while their gathered Kloveniers carry an assortment of weapons with which to defend their neighbourhood.
The painting now hangs in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and is its most famous exhibit. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the museum has had to temporarily close but it has uploaded a remarkable digital version that is the largest and most detailed photograph of the painting ever produced. Created as part of the museum’s ‘Operation Night Watch’ restoration project, it is now possible to zoom in on individual brushstrokes and even particles of pigment in the painting. This is all possible to see because the photograph is actually a composite of 528 digital photographs that have been assembled together. This means that previously almost hidden details can now be seen by the naked eye and it is an extraordinary testament to Rembrandt’s artistic skill.
For example, Cocq is revealed to have a glint in his eye that isn’t just the result of one dab of Rembrandt’s brush. It in fact consists of four separate dabs that each uses a slightly different shade of paint. The almost infinite amount of detail is extraordinary from the individually recreated textures of beards to the shadowy dog that is revealed to wear a fashionable collar and gold pendant. The chaos of the scene is even revealed to show a musket being fired and subtly smoking behind van Ruytenburch’s head. It is also possible to see corrections that Rembrandt made such as the index finger of the ensign who holds the Kloveniers flag.