His notes on the subordination of the portraits to the conception as a whole, and the lack of light in the painting, have contributed to the myth of Night Watch being rejected and of Rembrandt’s subsequent “fall.” Third Amsterdam period (1643–58) The myth of Rembrandt’s fall Consequently, the painting makes a dark impression that no doubt contributed to the epithet “Night Watch.” Van Hoogstraten, who had praised the unity in the Night Watch’s composition, criticized his former master by complaining, “I would have preferred if he would have kindled more light into it.” Van Hoogstraten’s remarks were published in his book on the art of painting. Because of this double “spotlight” effect, the tonal values of the painting as a whole seem to be subdued. Both are clad in yellow costumes, which strengthens the light effect. Two intensely lighted figures dominate the composition: the girl in the middle ground and the lieutenant in the foreground. The present condition of the painting also reveals the work’s crucial problem, which is at the same time its most intriguing feature. A copy, painted by Gerrit Lundens soon after the Night Watch was finished, shows that the original composition was much more dynamic and coherent than its present state indicates. As a result, the figures of the captain and his lieutenant have moved to the centre and into the utmost foreground of the composition. Rembrandt’s intentions in this respect are difficult to appreciate in the painting’s present state, since it has been trimmed on all sides, most of all on the left side. In the words of van Hoogstraten, Rembrandt’s former pupil, “Rembrandt made the portraits that were commissioned subservient to the image as a whole.”Īccording to van Hoogstraten, Night Watch was conceived by Rembrandt to be a unity ( eenwezich). In his painting of this scene, which later would acquire the name the Night Watch, Rembrandt revolutionized the formula of the group portrait as part of his continuing effort to achieve the ultimate liveliness in his work. In a family album belonging to the captain of the company, the work is described as: “the…captain gives order to his lieutenant,…to march out his company of citizens.” This implies that the 34 figures in the painting-actually only 18 militia men out of a company of some 100 men who had decided to have themselves portrayed, plus the 16 extras Rembrandt had added in order to suggest a large group of people-were crowding together just before the company was to assemble for a parade. In 1640–42 Rembrandt must have been occupied mainly with the large group portrait depicting members of an Amsterdam civic militia company. Militia Company of District II Under the Command of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq, better known as the Night Watch, oil on canvas by Rembrandt, 1642 in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Painter whose self portrait in profile crossword clue