The Night Watch by Rembrandt, created in 1642, is an iconic masterpiece of Western art. This monumental work not only showcases the artist's technical and conceptual brilliance but also reflects the social, cultural, and technological transformations of the 17th century.
This first analytical article from Revue de l'Atelier delves into the context of the commission, the painting technique, the evolution of the work over time, and the contributions of the latest scientific advancements in its study.
In the studio, we often learn that observing the works of the great masters is an essential step in understanding and mastering the art of painting. I hope this article highlights the importance of this approach and inspires you to study museum pieces with a renewed sense of attention.
Historical Context
The Night Watch was commissioned by the civic militia of Amsterdam, led by Captain Frans Banning Cocq. Intended to adorn the Kloveniersdoelen, a banquet hall for militia members, the commission followed a Dutch tradition of group portraits. These paintings served to showcase the status and unity of the militiamen.
However, Rembrandt broke away from the traditional formula by introducing a dynamic narrative and an unconventional composition. The painting depicts a group of militiamen in motion, organized around Captain Banning Cocq and his lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch. The characters are arranged in an animated scene that departs from the rigid compositions of his predecessors. This innovative approach elicited mixed reactions at the time.
Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam around 1630, and not long after, he created his first group portrait, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp. The exceptional mastery displayed in that work earned him widespread acclaim from the public. What immediately stood out, compared to his contemporaries, was the sense of movement and the psychological depth of the figures. It seemed only logical for the militia to entrust their portraits to the most modern and grandiose artist of the time.
The Genius Style of Rembrandt
Before delving further into the analysis of The Night Watch, there are several key aspects of Rembrandt's style that must be highlighted.
He is often regarded as an unmatched master of chiaroscuro, a technique that exploits the contrast between light and dark areas to create dramatic and emotional depth. This approach is thought to have been influenced by his study of Italian masters, such as Caravaggio, while developing a more introspective and narrative style of his own. His inclination toward introspection is evident in the over 80 self-portraits he created throughout his life, reflecting a profound concern for the human condition.
Recent analyses also reveal that Rembrandt employed a non-linear approach, frequently modifying or repainting significant parts of his works as he progressed. This controlled "improvisation" underscores his ability to experiment and adapt to meet narrative or aesthetic needs.
Rembrandt thrived during the Dutch Golden Age, a period of economic and artistic prosperity. The rise of a wealthy merchant class played a crucial role in commissioning complex and ambitious works like The Night Watch. This environment fostered his creativity, offering unique challenges as well as substantial resources for experimentation. To get a sense of his lifestyle at the time, one only needs to visit his house and studio in Amsterdam. He had a tendency to spend extravagantly and collected unique items such as armor, precious glassware, and ornate cabinets.
He was obsessed with texture and the rendering of materials, which partly explains his fascination with objects. Although he studied under masters like Pieter Lastman, Rembrandt quickly broke away from academic conventions. He employed unconventional tools, such as his own fingers or knives, to manipulate the paint. This is an attitude I deeply understand—an exuberant spirit often justifies the means to achieve a fascinating result. Studies also highlight his innovative use of pigments to create effects of light and textures that appear almost three-dimensional.
Finally, one of his most defining traits is his ability to organize complex compositions that tell a story. His works often feature multiple interacting figures, but without rigidity. This narrative vision is particularly evident in The Night Watch, where every character seems to play a specific role in the collective action.
Analysis of the Composition
One of the most intriguing elements of The Night Watch is the presence of a female figure in the background, to the left of the captain. Dressed in a golden gown, this figure is far from a mere spectator. She holds a dead chicken, a symbol of the militia (the claws and beak representing the arquebusiers). This figure plays a symbolic and allegorical role, emphasizing the collective identity of the militia. Some researchers also interpret her presence as an evocation of light and purity.
One cannot help but think of Saskia, Rembrandt’s companion, who passed away from tuberculosis around the time he was painting this commission. He portrayed her many times in various compositions, and her features can be recognized in this almost symbolic portrait. He not only lost Saskia but also several of his children, and his resilience in the face of these tragedies is evident in his later works. If you observe each of his portraits individually, you will notice that every figure seems inwardly reflective, as though Rembrandt was painting in an introspective mode.
Rembrandt is also known for incorporating his own face into several of his works. In The Night Watch, a partially hidden face located in the darkness on the right side of the composition is often interpreted as a self-portrait. This subtle and barely noticeable detail once again reflects his habit of embedding autobiographical elements in his paintings.
At the time, in group portraits, the convention was to depict each individual looking directly at the viewer, aligned in a monotonous fashion to meet strict requirements. Rembrandt, the eccentric as we know him, was far from content with a static composition. Instead, he crafted a dynamic scene, almost resembling a battle or a historical painting, which was an absolute innovation.
There is a sense that the life-sized figures are about to step out of the canvas. The captain’s foreshortened hand appears to have already emerged from the plane. It casts a shadow that seems to grasp the city’s coat of arms, embedded in impastoon the light fabric.
The gazes of the characters and their positions may seem chaotic, yet the composition is anchored by the central figures and a few structural lines that connect the periphery.
Painting Techniques and Materials
Analysis of the Paint Layers
A lead-based underlayer was identified through recent spectroscopic observations, highlighting Rembrandt's ingenuity. The painting was designed to be hung on a wall whose reverse faced the outside of the building. This underlayer, composed of lead white mixed with earth pigments, served to waterproof the back of the canvas while creating a luminous base. On this preparation, Rembrandt applied translucent glazes and opaque layers. Shadows were modeled using natural umber, while the highlights made use of pigments such as lead-tin yellow.
Identified Pigment Palette
Rembrandt made extensive use of smalt, a blue pigment created from colored glass. This pigment was produced by melting quartz (sand) with potash (used as a flux) and roasted cobalt ore (providing the blue color) at 1200 °C. In the 17th century, cobalt primarily came from Saxony (Germany) and was transported to the Netherlands, where a major production center existed.
Rembrandt did not use smalt solely for blue hues. He blended it with other pigments to achieve various colors: with red to create purple, with yellow to produce green, or to enrich his browns. Furthermore, smalt was used to thicken the paint and accelerate drying, reflecting the artist’s technical ingenuity. However, as seen here, smalt turns brown over time. All areas of the composition containing smalt mixtures have lost their original saturation.
Lead white is omnipresent in this painting and in Rembrandt's work in general. The pigment was obtained through a rather astonishing process: strips of lead were suspended above vinegar in earthen pots, then buried under horse manure for several weeks. This treatment caused the metal to corrode, forming a bright white powder: lead white. In Rembrandt's time, the Dutch were renowned throughout Europe for their lead white. It was even called the "Dutch process," and Rembrandt valued its exceptional properties and optical qualities, which he used to create various effects, including his famous impastos.
In the 17th century, lead-tin yellow was produced by heating three parts lead oxide with one part tin oxide. A slight variation in the temperature during the process allowed for different shades of yellow, ranging from orangish tones to shades closer to lemon yellow. Here, the light yellow highlights correspond to lead-tin yellow. At the time, the golden details and reflections of the costumes would have gleamed like metallic gold. These golden areas of the composition also contain a significant amount of arsenic, making them extremely toxic and delicate to handle.
The other notable pigments include vermilion, used for red accents such as flags and ribbons; azurite, applied to clothing for its vibrant blue tones; raw umber, used for deep shadows and heated to adjust its hue; and carbon black, present in contours and dark details.
Some pigments have degraded so much over time that only the initial sketch is visible, like the dog in the foreground.
The binders, primarily linseed oil, were adjusted to achieve varying effects of transparency and texture. The differentiated applications of pigments and binders highlight Rembrandt's meticulous attention to detail and lighting effects.
Transformations and Restoration
Historical Alterations
In 1715, The Night Watch was moved to Amsterdam's city hall. During this transfer, the painting was trimmed at the edges to fit its new location between two doors in a room that was too small, mutilating several figures. Among them were three individuals on the left side of the composition, including militiamen who contributed to the original narrative and spatial balance of the piece. This intervention significantly altered the initial composition, which now appears almost overly centered. On the missing left portion, a door was placed, explaining the general movement of the group.
Modern Restoration
The Operation Night Watch project, launched in 2019, allowed for the study of the painting using advanced technologies such as infrared spectroscopy, which revealed underlying sketches, and X-ray fluorescence (XRF), which mapped the chemical composition of the pigments. These techniques highlighted modifications made by Rembrandt during the execution, demonstrating an adaptive creative process: repositioning of legs and arms, with the initial sketch including more lances in the background.
He also drew and painted feathers on the helmet of militiaman Claes van Cruijsbergen, but he eventually covered them with black. With the erosion of the black paint, traces of red and ochre from these feathers are now reemerging.
The painting also contains very small paint losses and white clusters. These formed over the centuries due to the reaction between the lead and the oil binder. These protrusions either detached or were removed during successive cleanings of the painting, leaving small holes that appear as black dots.
There are numerous effects of color distortion, layer deformation, and cracking caused by the passage of time, and it is a fascinating endeavor to uncover and understand them in order to improve restoration processes or enhance the quality of pigments used in today’s studios.
I would like to briefly return to the later years of Rembrandt. After Saskia’s death, he raised his son Titus alone, and it was during this time that The Night Watch was born. This pivotal year marked the decline of a man consumed by melancholy. The public wanted more color—this was the height of the Baroque—but such demands were not part of the master’s artistic DNA. He eventually received too few commissions, forcing him to sell his house and even Saskia’s gravestone to survive. Yet, despite everything, he continued to paint, retreating into himself, multiplying self-portraits that pushed the boundaries of time representation through impasto and increasingly advanced experiments. The Night Watch is truly the pinnacle of his career.
Impasto had fallen out of favor at the time but later experienced a revival with the Impressionists. Today, even though impasto may sometimes reflect artistic overindulgence and collective fervor, its roots can partly be traced back to the genius of an exuberant master in an Amsterdam studio in 1642.
Conclusion
This shows just how much The Night Watch is more than just a painting. It is a monumental window into the artistic ingenuity and technical mastery of a genius. It continues to reveal its secrets, thanks to technological advancements and the meticulous conservation efforts undertaken today. Every detail, every pigment, every brushstroke tells a story—one of a bold painter who constantly pushed the boundaries of his art in pursuit of excellence, not without occasionally embracing metaphysical ambition.
I believe that beyond its visual beauty and narrative impact, this painting embodies the very essence of the artistic quest: a constant exploration of materials, techniques, and emotions. Recent discoveries, such as the underlying sketches or hidden pigments, remind us that Rembrandt's art was not static but in perpetual evolution, reflecting his era and aspirations.
This masterpiece invites us to reflect on how we approach art, whether in studios, galleries, or museums, with ever more attentive and curious eyes. It continues to inspire artists, restorers, and enthusiasts, serving as a timeless reminder of the power of creativity and the legacy left by the masters of the past... who whisper to the ears of tomorrow's masters (if we are willing to listen).
I thoroughly enjoyed writing this article, which transported me back several years. Difficult choices had to be made regarding its content, meaning there are many other aspects of the painting that I did not cover here. If you have questions about any of the concepts discussed, please feel free to ask me during the classes at the atelier.
You want to learn more about oil painting technics at the atelier? See the programs here.
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