The Night Watch, Rembrandt van Rijn (cut out) from the old master collection

A cut-out from the Night Watch, with Captain Frans Banninck Cocq and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburgh placed centrally. The militiamen and figurines in the background are blurred, making the captain and lieutenant stand out. The company of captain Frans Banninck Cocq and lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburgh prepares to march out, better known as the Night Watch, is a militia painting by Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) and was completed in 1642. The canvas shows the two militiamen from the title, accompanied by other militiamen, as well as some figurines, as they are preparing to march. The Night Watch is one of the most famous paintings in the world, and the painting was Rembrandt's contribution to a project of seven works, six militia pieces and a portrait of the target lords of the Kloveniersschutters, commissioned by the Amsterdam militia guild for the grand banquet hall of the Kloveniersdoelen. It is Rembrandt's first and only militia piece. Compared to other canvases of the genre, Rembrandt's work is a lively and bold composition, in which the militia does not pose in the usual static arrangement, but is depicted while grouping. The canvas is a rich work of baroque complexity, in which realism and symbolism are skillfully combined in a masterful integration of movement, light and colour, brought into harmony by a delicate pattern of chiaroscuro. In these aspects, it represents

Old Master collections

Discover more Old Masters in the following collections:

• All Old Masters
• Old Masters with a twist
• Old masters from A to Z
• Topics
• Styles