The Night Watch

E3966

The Night Watch is a famous 1642 group portrait by Dutch Golden Age painter Rembrandt, celebrated for its dramatic use of light, shadow, and dynamic composition depicting a city militia company.


Statements (50)
Predicate Object
instanceOf group portrait
oil painting
painting
alternateName The Shooting Company of Frans Banning Cocq
artHistoricalPeriod Baroque
artist Rembrandt
artTechnique chiaroscuro
catalogueRaisonneNumber Bredius 439
collection Rijksmuseum
commissionedBy Amsterdam civic guard
commissionedFor Kloveniersdoelen (musketeers’ hall) in Amsterdam
completionDate 1642
countryOfOrigin Dutch Republic
creator Rembrandt
culturalSignificance iconic masterpiece of Rembrandt
one of the most famous paintings of the Dutch Golden Age
depictionTimeOfDay daytime (despite traditional title suggesting night)
depicts Captain Frans Banning Cocq
Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch
civic guard company of Amsterdam
militia company
exhibitionHistory permanently displayed in the Rijksmuseum’s Gallery of Honour
genre history painting
portrait painting
hasPart central figure of Captain Frans Banning Cocq dressed in black with a red sash
figure of Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch dressed in yellow
young girl with a chicken hanging from her belt
height approximately 363 cm
inception 1642
influenced later group portraiture
languageOfTitle Dutch
lightingStyle tenebrism
locatedInTheAdministrativeTerritorialEntity Amsterdam
locatedInTheCountry Netherlands
location Rijksmuseum
medium oil on canvas
movement Dutch Golden Age painting
museumAccession Rijksmuseum collection
notableFor dramatic use of light and shadow
dynamic composition
numberOfFiguresDepicted over 30
orientation landscape
originalTitle Militia Company of District II under the Command of Captain Frans Banning Cocq
significantEvent damaged in vandalism incidents in the 20th century
subject of multiple restoration campaigns
trimmed on all sides in 1715 to fit a new location
subjectHeading city militia
support canvas
title The Night Watch
width approximately 437 cm


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