Why Is Rembrandt’s Night Watch So Famous?

Rembrandt, a name so legendary it needs no introduction. At the Rijksmuseum, all eyes are drawn towards one focal point. The Night Watch, his most famous masterpiece. But what makes this world-famous painting so extraordinary? One of the main reasons the Night Watch is so iconic is that Rembrandt broke the conventions of his time, such as his far more drastic use of light and shadow. But there were more rules he chose to defy. Most of the portraits we know from that time period just show people neatly standing next to each other. It's a kind of a highway of hats being depicted. And what Rembrandt is doing here, he is not putting the man central to the painting, but it's all about the action and the interaction between the figures. And Rembrandt knows exactly how to steer our eye through the composition to really feel what kind of drama and narrative he wants to capture. And that makes this painting completely different from all of the others that have been made in the 17th century in the Netherlands. Rembrandt uses subtle lines of movement to guide the viewer's eye to two figures. Captain Frans Bannekoek and his lieutenant Willem van Ruitenburg. The captain, a lawyer in daily life, gestures to start marching out. His lieutenant, dressed in dazzling white and gold, stands proudly at his side. Surrounding them is a carefully orchestrated chaos. There are three musketeers, each captured in a different stage of handling a musket. One is loading, another firing, and the third clearing his weapon. To add even more motion, Rembrandt includes a drummer who appears to be giving the signal to march out. Notice how a dog barks excitedly in response to the drumming. But beyond the movement, the night watch is also filled with symbols and hidden details. I have a specific favorite piece in the painting, and that is the shadow of the hand of Frans Bannekoek. The shadow is cast on the costume of Willem van Ruitenburg. And then in between his fingers, within the shadow, we see three crosses, and these are the crosses of the coat of arms of Amsterdam. And with this gesture, it's almost as if he's already protecting Amsterdam. And I think such a detail that might look insignificant is, in meaning, one of the crucial aspects of what this civic art painting is all about. The night watch holds even more mysteries. Look closely, and you'll find a young girl bathed in light. Some thought she might be Rembrandt's wife, Saskia. Others believed she was an angel. But she is neither. She symbolizes the civic guard. The dead chicken on her belt refers to their coat of arms, a golden claw. And there, half hidden behind the figures, could that be Rembrandt himself watching over the scene? I believe he's the goat. I mean, he really understands how to play with us as beholders. Originally, the night watch was even larger, with more figures at the edges of the canvas. But why was it cut down? Because it had to fit between two doors. And that was when the painting moved to the town hall on Dam Square, now the Royal Palace. It was trimmed off on all four sides. And especially on the left side, a large strip of canvas was cut off. And thanks to a 17th century copy made by Gerrit Lundens, we still know what the original composition looked like. On the left side, there were two guards and a child standing on a bridge. And the captain and the lieutenant were originally not depicted in the center of the painting, but slightly more to the right. And that significantly increased the movement in the painting. So Rembrandt's original composition was even more dynamic than it is today. The cut-off pieces have never been found, but we very much hope that we still find them someday. Its greatness lies in Rembrandt's bold break with tradition, replacing static rows of men with a scene alive with motion, and using light and shadow in ways no one had dared before. That is why the night watch remains so special.