The painting may be more properly titled by its long since forgotten name “The Company of captain Frans Banning Cocq and lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch preparing to march out.” In the 18th century the painting became simply known as “The Night Watch”.<\/p>\n
It is prominently displayed in the\u00a0Rijksmuseum,\u00a0Amsterdam, the\u00a0Netherlands, as the best known painting in its collection. Actually, the Night Watch\u00a0is one of the most famous paintings in the world.<\/p>\n
The painting is renowned for three characteristics: its colossal size (363\u00a0cm \u00d7\u00a0437\u00a0cm), the effective use of light and shadow\u00a0and the perception of motion in what would have traditionally been a static military portrait.<\/p>\n
The painting was completed at the peak of the\u00a0Dutch Golden Age. It depicts the eponymous\u00a0company\u00a0moving out, led by Captain\u00a0Frans Banning Cocq\u00a0(dressed in black, with a red\u00a0sash) and his lieutenant,\u00a0Willem van Ruytenburch\u00a0(dressed in yellow, with a white sash).<\/p>\n
With effective use of sunlight and shade, Rembrandt leads the eye to the three most important characters among the crowd, the two gentlemen in the centre (from whom the painting gets its original title), and the small girl in the centre left background. Behind them, the company’s colours are carried by the ensign, Jan Visscher Cornelissen.<\/p>\n
For much of its existence, the painting was coated with a dark varnish which gave the incorrect impression that it depicted a night scene, leading to the name by which it is now commonly known. This varnish was removed only in the 1940s.<\/p>\n
A persistent misconception is that Rembrandt’s decline in popularity was due to a negative public reception of the painting.\u00a0The myth has no reasonable origin as there is no record of criticism of the painting in Rembrandt’s lifetime.<\/p>\n
It is more likely that the decline in the artist’s popularity was due not to reaction to any one painting but to a broader change in taste. During the 1640s wealthy patrons began to prefer the bright colors and graceful manner that had been initiated by such painters as the Flemish portraitist\u00a0Anthony van Dyck.<\/p>\n
Source of the description: Wikipedia<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The painting may be more properly titled by its long since forgotten name “The Company of captain Frans Banning Cocq and lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch preparing to march out.” In the 18th century the painting became simply known as “The Night Watch”. It is prominently displayed in the\u00a0Rijksmuseum,\u00a0Amsterdam, the\u00a0Netherlands, as the best known painting in … Continue reading The Night Watch<\/span>