Rembrandt's 'The Nightwatch'

The Nightwatch (1642, oil on canvas), 359 cm x 438 cm, probably Rembrandt's most famous and most controversial painting, was given its erroneous title The Night Watch in the early 19th century. The title referred to the subdued lighting and led art critics to seek all manner of hidden mysteries in the painting. The original title, recorded in the still extant family chronicle of Captain Banning Cocq, together with a sketch of the painting, sounds rather dry by comparison: "Sketch of the painting from the Great Hall of Cleveniers Doelen, in which the young Heer van Purmerlandt [Banning Cocq], as captain, orders his lieutenant, the Heer van Vlaerderdingen [Willem van Ruytenburch], to march the company out."

It is, therefore, a "Doelen" piece, or group portrait, in which the captain can be seen in the foreground wearing black and the lieutenant wearing yellow. What sets Rembrandt's group portrait apart from other comparable paintings is his use of chiaroscuro as a dramatic device. Interpretations seeking a plausible action fail to take into account that the scenery is made up more or less of individual "types". The painting includes the entire repertoire of portrait poses and gestures from Rembrandt's store of figures.

There is inevitably a sense of celebration in the portrayal of individuals in a Dutch group painting. Yet, whereas Frans Hals, for example, draws together his individual participants around a banquet scene, Rembrandt breaks up the group, so that individual characters and participants become absorbed in their own actions, each standing alone.