Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Rembrandt and
The
Night Watch
Top 10 Events in
Rembrandt's Life
1 Born in Leiden (1606)
2 Studies with Pieter
Lastman (1624)
3 Receives first important
commission and
marries Saskia van
Uylenburgh (1634)
4 Reputation grows; buys
large house in
Amsterdam (1639) -
now the Museum het
Rembrandthuis
5 Titus, his only child to
survive into adulthood,
is born (1641)
6 Saskia dies;
The Night
Watch
completed (1642)
7 Hendrickje Stoffels
moves in (1649)
8 Applies for bankruptcy
(1656)
9 Titus and Hendrickje
acquire the rights to his
work
0 Death of Titus (1668); in
October of the following
year, Rembrandt dies
Popular belief holds Rembrandt's greatest painting,
The Night Watch
(1642), responsible for his change
in fortune from rich man to pauper. In fact, it was
more a case of poor financial management than of
public dissatisfaction with the artist, although it's very
likely that the militiamen who commissioned the
portrait would have been dismayed at the result.
The
Night Watch
differs radically from other contemporary
portraits of companies of civic guards, in which they
are depicted seated, serious and soberly dressed
(see p26)
. Rembrandt, by contrast, shows a tumult-
uous scene - the captain issuing orders to his
lieutenant, the men taking up arms ready to march.
This huge painting was originally even larger, but it
was drastically cut down in 1715, when it was moved
to the town hall, and the other pieces were lost. In
1975 it was slashed, but repaired.
Self-Portrait as
St Paul
Rembrandt's series of
self-portraits, painted
throughout his life,
provide an extra-
ordinary insight into
his character.
The Military Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq
- better known as
The Night Watch
15
