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This is the Night Watch, a painting painted by Rembrandt van Rijn in 1642.

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Back in 1639, Rembrandt van Rijn got a commission from Captain Bonnenkok and the members of his Civic Guard to paint them.

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This was nothing new, there was a whole genre dedicated to the painting of Civic Guards.

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The Civic Guards were groups of men that were supposed to guard the city, but by the time the Night Watch was painted, they were no longer a necessity and had become ceremonial.

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Though the Nightwatch might be part of a genre, the painting differs from all the others in

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many ways.

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The most obvious difference is that the men in the painting are all doing something.

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In most group portraits, everyone is posing and neatly in a row, everyone equal.

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There might be a few people in the background, they probably paint less than the one in the

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foreground, but they're all posing.

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Rembrandt didn't want to do this.

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He painted them as if they were about to march out.

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The painting is full of movement.

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This sounds like the whole painting is just a mess, but looking closely you can see the

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diagonal lines that create order.

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Rembrandt is famous for his use of light in his paintings.

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Here you can see for example that the lieutenant on the right side of the captain and the girl

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on his left are standing in the light, while the rest of the painting is rather dark.

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The two of them are standing beside the most important figure, drawing attention to him,

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the captain.

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It took Rembrandt three years to finish this painting and when it was finally done in 1642,

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The painting was called Militia Company of District 2 under the command of Captain Frans

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Bonnenkoek.

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The name changed because about a hundred years after it was painted, the painting had darkened

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due to a buildup of dirt and the darkening of the many layers of varnish on top of the

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painting.

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This caused the painting to look like it was set at night time and so he got the name The

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Night Watch.

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Even after the painting was cleaned and it became clear that it was actually a daytime

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scene, people kept calling it The Night Watch and the name stuck.

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Between 1642 and now, a lot has happened to the night watch.

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As you can see, the night watch is really big, it's 363 cm by 437 cm.

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It used to be even bigger, but pieces were cut off it to fit a particular room and the

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last pieces have never been found.

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Because of this, a few people are no longer in the painting.

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The night watch has also been attacked several times.

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Back in 1911, a man was mad at the state for losing his job and tried to cut into the painting

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with a knife.

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It was stopped before he could do any serious damage, so he only managed to make a few scratches

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in the varnish.

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In 1939, the painting was taken out of its frame, rolled up and put in a safe in the

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caves of Maastricht, a city in the south of the Netherlands.

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This was to protect it during World War II.

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After the war ended, the painting was restored, put back into its frame and returned to the

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Rijksmuseum. In 1945 Arthur van Schendel, the director of the museum, fell onto the

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painting. Somehow this did not cause any damage. In 1975 a man did manage to cut

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into the painting and caused severe damage. A big restoration was needed to

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get the painting to look like it used to. Then there was an angry and confused man

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in 1990. He sprayed hydrochloric acid onto the painting and luckily this

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damage only the varnish and was cleaned right after so it did not leave any permanent marks.

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This was it for the Nightwatch, enjoy the museum!