"Night watch" - a picture of Rembrandt

The 17th century was marked by the flourishing of the Dutch school of painting, which was associated with the birth of the middle class and the absence of a rigid dictatorship of the church. It was the latter circumstance that led the painters to paint pictures depicting scenes from the lives of their contemporaries, still lifes and landscapes instead of paintings on religious subjects. In addition, many shops and organizations of citizens began to order group portraits. In particular, the painting by Rembrandt "Night Watch" - a picture written at the request of members of the Rifle Society of the Netherlands. Today it is recognized as one of the masterpieces of world painting, and some of its fragments are interpreted by connoisseurs and experts studying the history of art in many different ways.

Author of the painting "Night Watch": biography

Rembrandt van Rijn was born in 1606 in the city of Leiden. He was educated at the Latin School, operating at the local university, and at the same time attended painting classes that were held by the famous artist Jacob van Svanenbürh. At the age of 17, the young man went to Amsterdam and took 4 lessons from Peter Lastman, where he met Jan Leaven. After completing the training, the young people decided to set up a workshop in Leiden, and in a few years they managed to achieve some success.

In 1631, Rembrandt returned to Amsterdam, married the daughter of the mayor of the city of Leeuwarden and began to paint portraits of wealthy Amsterdamers. However, a happy family life lasted only 10 years: in 1641, the artist buried his beloved wife, left with a one-year-old son in his arms.

Customers of the "Night Watch"

A year after this loss, Rembrandt received a large order from eighteen shooters under the command of Frans Banning Kok - to write a group portrait of their company, for which he was promised, and subsequently paid 1,600 florins. Today this canvas is known as the "Night Watch" - a painting that is considered the forerunner of such areas of painting as realism and impressionism. Unfortunately, contemporaries, including customers, did not appreciate this work for its worth, and it caused the public to cool to the artist, which ultimately led him to poverty.

"Day Watch"

What is depicted on this canvas, the content of certain fragments of which for more than a century causes controversy among specialists and art lovers? First of all, I must say that the picture "Night Watch", a photo of which can be seen in almost all the booklets devoted to Rembrandt's work, depicts the stage of preparation for the parade. This means that the action takes place during the day. So why did the artist regret paints and depicted the twilight? This mystery for a long time did not give rest to the researchers. However, the solution was very simple, as during the restoration it became clear that the lack of illumination is not an artistic device, but ordinary soot. In addition, it was found that the name "Night Watch" canvas was received only in the 19th century. Be that as it may, today this masterpiece by Rembrandt appears before the visitors of the State Museum of Amsterdam in its original form and invariably evokes admiration from connoisseurs of fine art.

Size of the canvas

Dimensions of Rembrandt's creation, commissioned by a company of civil militia shooters, is 437 by 363 cm. However, it was established that the canvas, now known as the Night Watch, is a picture that represents only a large part of the original, which initially has significantly larger parameters. The fact is that for unknown reasons the fragment depicting Jacobs Dirksen de Roy and Jan Bryugman was later cut out. Fortunately, there is a copy made in the 17th century by Gerrit Lundens, which allows to judge how the original looked before the damage.

"Night Watch": description of the painting

The canvas depicts a group of musketeers led by Captain Kok, who is clad in a black coat and gestures, giving orders to Lieutenant van Reitenbürg. Behind the back of the latter is the musketeer Jan Leydekers Klasen, and in the background in the cylinder depicts the spearman Jan Okkersen. Another figure that draws attention to itself is Jan van der Hed, wearing a red camisole, charging a musket. All these people are surrounded by many other characters, some of which have no relation to the shooters at all. For example, to this day the figure of a girl in a luxurious golden dress is controversial, since it is not clear for what purpose the artist portrayed a child among armed men. This once again confirms the view that the "Night Watch" is a picture full of mysteries.

The further destiny of a cloth

When Rembrandt presented the picture to the militia riflemen, they could not hide their disappointment, because what they saw did not correspond to the notion of a group portrait existing at that time. In particular, the customers hoped that they would be depicted roughly as today photographers offer to be placed in traditional photographs on the occasion of the end of the school year. However, instead, the artist handed them a canvas on which were full of unknown characters, and some arrows were in the background, and their figures are almost invisible. Thus, the picture, which is recognized as a masterpiece by all those who have already studied Rembrandt's creativity for about 200 years , did not find recognition among contemporaries. Moreover, for many years she hung in one of the far corners of the town hall, until it - in poor condition - was discovered by the artist Van Dyck, who saw under the layer of dust the name of the author.

"Night Watch": legends and hoaxes

Today, one can often come across such a strange description of Rembrandt's picture that one can only marvel at the ignorance of the people who invent them. For example, some pseudo-researchers recently voiced the version that all gestures of the characters point to two noble Amsterdamers portrayed on the left (from the viewers) edge of the canvas that ordered the assassination of Lieutenant van Reitenbürg. Moreover, they assure that it was this attempt by Rembrandt to expose the murderers that aroused the wrath of the criminals, and they did their best to plunge the artist into poverty. However, it must be said that the aforementioned officer died only in 1657, and the artist could not know what waits for van Reitenbürg 15 years after the creation of the Night Watch.

3D model of the "Night Watch"

Creativity Rembrandt, who, after writing a picture depicting the militia shooters, stopped receiving orders and died in poverty, once again interested in art lovers only in the 19th century. Today, the work and even the sketches made by this artist are sold at auctions for fabulous money, and his paintings are considered an adornment of the collections of the largest museums in the world.

Several years ago Russian sculptors M. Dronov and A. Taratynov decided to create a 3D model of the "Night Watch". It represents 22 bronze figures in human growth, repeating in great detail the characters of the famous canvas. Today this work is decorated with Rembrandt Square in Amsterdam and enjoys great popularity among tourists.

When someone wants to talk about "Night Watch", the description of the picture, no matter how complete and detailed it may be, can not convey the impression that embraces all who are before this masterpiece in the hall of the State Museum of Amsterdam. And everyone else has to look at photos or wait for the 3D model of the Watch to be brought back to Russia.