Edward Hopper said that Nighthawks was inspired by “a restaurant on New York’s Greenwich Avenue where two streets meet,” but the image—with its carefully constructed composition and lack of narrative—has a timeless, universal quality that transcends its particular locale. The Night Watch is an oil on canvas painting and a group portrait of a militia company possibly celebrating Queen Maria de Medici’s 1638 visit to Amsterdam. The Night Watch is a 1642 painting made by the renowned painter Rembrandt. Exaggerated by a deteriorating varnish, this darkness caused the picture to be called the Night Watch in the eighteenth century. During the entire process, the Night Watch painting is encased in an ultra white (very clear glass) chamber. It is one of his most famous paintings. Rembrandt kept the painting dark, because where there is darkness, light can be provided: on the Lieutenant's yellow gold uniform, on the little girl in the second row. Rembrandt threw all the conventions regarding a group portrait out the window when he painted The Night Watch: instead of posing, the guards are in action. What is so special about The Night Watch? A militia painting is a group portrait of a division of the civic guard. Jan Steen, Feast of St. Nicholas. The Night Watch by Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn is completed in 1642, at the peak of the Dutch Golden Age, it is one of the most famous paintings in the world. As Taco Dibbits explains, during the entire project the painting will remain on display in the Night Watch Hall (Nachtwachtzaal) of the Rijksmuseum. ... Rembrandt, The Night Watch. On this special 50th episode, we chart one painting’s rise to fame: The Night Watch (1642), Rembrandt van Rijn ’s 17th-century masterwork. The Night Watch, the most famous painting in the Rijksmuseum, actually has another title: Militia Company of District II under the Command of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq. The 7-metres square glass case was designed by the French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Rembrandt depicted the group of militiamen in an unusual way. These were groups of able-bodied men who, if the need arose, could be called upon to defend the city or put down riots. The Night Watch The picture generally known as "The Night Watch," but it is really "The Sortie" of a company of musketeers under the command of a standard bearer. This is the currently selected item. When the painting was cleaned it was much lighter than in it's original state, no longer fitting the title 'Night Watch' which, by the way, was not titled by Rembrandt. Rembrandt, Self … Rachel Ruysch, Fruit and Insects. It’s a centuries-long story that includes, among other things: a devastating bankruptcy, slanderous rumors, a swift rise to fame, and, at one point, Rembrandt’s iconic canvas slashed into ribbons. The Night Watch is a perfect exemplification of this, since while artists of the Italian Baroque movement were painting depictions of Christian symbols and images, people like Rembrandt were contributing to the Northern Baroque movement by painting secular pieces such as this that represented things such as reason and democracy. Initially the painting had been titled “Frans Banning Cocq and Willem van Ruytenburch”, but it was later changed to “Night Watch” due to the suspension critics had about the portrait. Johannes Vermeer, The Art of Painting. The Rijksmuseum has the painting on loan, and thus was not obliged to pay anything for it. Ruisdael, View of Haarlem with Bleaching Grounds. Rembrandt, The Night Watch. It is a group portrait of a militia company. The night watcher is considered to be one of the most important paintings in the whole history of Art.