Image: public domain, courtesy of Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

The Night Watch

Rembrandt, 1642

This is Rembrandt's largest and most famous painting, made in 1642 for a hall of the city guard in Amsterdam. The captain in black tells his lieutenant to start the march, and a girl shines in the light among the guards.

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Did you know?

The name Night Watch came much later, in the late 1700s, when dark old varnish made this daytime scene look like night.
In 1715 it moved to Amsterdam's Town Hall and was trimmed on all four sides to fit between two doors.
Look for the shield by the gate: it lists the names of the guardsmen in the painting.
The girl in gold has a dead chicken hanging from her belt; its claws were the symbol of this guard company.
Look at the captain's hand: its shadow falls on the lieutenant's coat, right beside Amsterdam's coat of arms.
During the Second World War it was hidden away, from 1942 in a cave in Maastricht.