The Night Watch

A closer look

Instead of showing the militiamen standing in rows, Rembrandt captured them at the moment they set off: the captain gives an order, the lieutenant listens, a drummer beats his drum, men load and fire their muskets and a dog barks. In the middle of the bustle a small girl, lit as if by a spotlight, carries a chicken at her waist, its claws a reference to the company’s emblem. Light and shadow pick out some figures and leave others in darkness, giving the scene energy and depth.

History of the painting

In 1715, when the painting was moved from the militia company's hall to Amsterdam's town hall, strips were cut from all four sides to make it fit between two doors; the left edge lost two figures. A small 17th-century copy by Gerrit Lundens shows what is missing. During the Second World War the canvas was taken off its stretcher, rolled up and hidden in caves and bunkers in the dunes and near Maastricht.

The painting has survived three attacks: with a knife in 1911, slashed again in 1975, and sprayed with acid in 1990, each time restored. Since 2019 it has been the subject of Operation Night Watch, the largest research and restoration project in its history, carried out in a glass room in full view of museum visitors, and in 2021 the cut-off strips were temporarily recreated with the help of artificial intelligence.