Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

PHOTO: AP

Everyday The Night Watch was painted during peace time

Often hailed as the greatest painter in the Western tradition, Dutch artist Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-69) lived a life full of ups and downs. Born in a family of affluent millers as one of ten siblings, Rembrandt spent the first twenty-five years of his life in Leiden before moving to Amsterdam where he achieved great artistic success.

However, the latter part of his life was mired with financial and familial problems so much so that when he died in 1669, he was buried in a pauper’s grave.

During his lifetime, Rembrandt produced hundreds of paintings, etchings and drawings on a variety of subjects.

He also rendered many paintings by drawing scenes from everyday life. One of them, “The Night Watch” (De Nachtwacht) is not only his largest work (approximately 13 ft. by 16 feet) but also considered to be one of the world’s greatest group portraits. Painted in 1642, “The Night Watch” shows a group of militiamen setting out on parade in the streets of Amsterdam.

Its original title seems to have been The Militia Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq and Willem van Ruytenburch.

Commissioned by Capt. Coca and seventeen members of Kloveniers, the painting was made not at a time of unrest but in peace time.

The commissioning civic militia guards paid 100 guilders each to Rembrandt for the painting, not a small amount at that time. However, when the painting was completed, all of them seem to have disliked the outcome! That did not prevent “The Night Watch” from being recognised as a great achievement and as a symbol of the new Dutch nation.

An equally fascinating tale reveals that the painting was actually made to depict day time; many even teasingly call it The Day Watch! The painting, coated with layers of dark varnish, gave the wrong impression of it being a night scene.

There are several poignant asides to the painting as well. In 1715 when it was moved to the Amsterdam Town Hall, it became impossible to fit it in new premises. What was done to solve the problem was gruesome – the painting was simply cut off on all four sides, reducing its size to about 11ft. by 14 ft.!

The painting has also been subject to vandalism – first in 1975 and then in 1990; fortunately, it was restored on both the occasions. It now hangs as a prime exhibit at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

A BBC documentary traces the biography of Rembrandt’s masterpiece unravelling many intriguing facts about the enigmatic painter and his times. So, keep your date with The Night Watch on BBC World at 5.40 p.m. on January 26; the programme can also be viewed at 3.40 p.m. and 10.40 p.m. on Sunday, January 27.

GIRIDHAR KHASNIS

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail