Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
less famous group portraits, where every face is visible, and every-
one is well-lit, flat, and flashbulb-perfect. These people paid good
money to have their mugs preserved for posterity, and they wanted
it right up front. Other group portraits may be colorful, dignified,
works by a master...but not quite masterpieces.
By contrast, Rembrandt rousted the civic guards off their fat
duffs. By adding movement and depth to an otherwise static scene,
he took posers and turned them into warriors. He turned a simple
portrait into great art.
OK, some
Night Watch
scuttlebutt: First off,
“Night Watch”
is a
misnomer. It's a daytime scene, but over the years, as the preserv-
ing varnish darkened and layers of dirt built up, the sun set on
this painting, and it got its popular title. When the painting was
moved to a smaller room, the sides were lopped off (and the pieces
lost), putting the two main characters in the center and causing the
work to become more static than intended. During World War II,
the painting was rolled up and hidden for five years. More recently,
a madman attacked the painting, slicing the captain's legs (now
skillfully repaired).
The Night Watch,
contrary to popular myth, was a smashing
success in its day. However, there are elements in it that show why
Rembrandt soon fell out of favor as a portrait painter. He seemed
to spend as much time painting the dwarf and the mysterious
glowing girl with a chicken (the very appropriate mascot of this
“militia” of shopkeepers) as he did the faces of his employers.
Rembrandt's life darkened long before his
Night Watch
did.
This work marks the peak of Rembrandt's popularity...and the
beginning of his fall from grace. He continued to paint master-
pieces. Free from the dictates of employers whose taste was in their
mouths, he painted what he wanted, how he wanted it. Rembrandt
goes beyond mere craftsmanship to probe into, and draw life from,
the deepest wells of the human soul.
