Rembrandt - The night watch

• Title: The night watch (De Nachtwacht)
• Artist: Rembrandt (1606-1669)
• Date: 1642
• Medium: Oil on canvas
• Dimensions: 363 x 437 cm

“The Night Watch” or “Militia Company of District II under the Command of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq” depicts a company of soldiers who all commissioned the painting.

With effective use of light and shade, Rembrandt leads the eye to three characters among the crowd- the two men in the center, and the woman in the center-left background carrying a dead chicken (another word for a rooster is a cock, maybe the dead chicken symbolizes Captain Cocq defeating an adversary?). Rembrandt’s composition and use of light and shadow creates a sensation of motion in what would have traditionally been a static military group portrait.