Why it matters
Rembrandt turned a routine group portrait of a civic militia company into a drama of light, shadow and movement, with the company striding out behind its captain. The title is a misnomer: it is not a night scene at all, and has long been the best-known painting in the Rijksmuseum.
Did you know?
- It measures 363 × 437 cm.
- Rembrandt was paid 1,600 guilders; each of the eighteen named militiamen paid about a hundred.
- The small girl carrying a dead chicken refers to the emblem of the arquebusiers.
- Officially it belongs to the Amsterdam Museum and is on display in the Rijksmuseum.
Based on the Wikipedia article The Night Watch (CC BY-SA 4.0).
