Rembrandt Paintings

Rembrandt: The Night Watch

admin — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 19:31:14 +0000

The Night Watch (Dutch: De Nachtwacht) is a painting by the Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn.
The painting was completed in 1642 and belongs to the Holland group portraits of shooting guilds. Today it is exhibited in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The painting is known best as Night Watch or Nightwatch, but several other names are known and used: “The Company of Frans Banning Cocq and Willem van Ruytenburch”, Dutch:”De compagnie van Frans Banning Cocq”. In the family album of Captain Cocq the picture is titled “The captain gave his lieutenant the order to march with the militia”.

The Night Watch shows 34 people – including 18 shooters and 16 other figures. The foreground shows the captain and his lieutenant, but the overall screen layout is dominated by two figures in brightly lit yellow clothing: A girl in the middle ground and the lieutenant in the foreground.

The painting is very dark; some details in the background can hardly be recognized. The usual explanation is that over time the many layers of varnish have darkened naturally. But maybe, some conservators added later, during the 17th or 18th Century an additional yellow-brown varnish to achieve a so called “gallery tone”. However, if we judge after a later copy (cf. image 2) of “Night Watch” we can conclude that the painting had been much lighter, initially.

The center of The Night Watch shows a militia of the 17th Century. As the Netherlands struggled at those times to gain independence from the Spanish crown, there were not uncommon. They were also named Arquebusiers, according to the arquebus, a long-barreled gun of the 16th Century. The captain of the Arquebusiers , Frans Banning Cocq, is standing beside his Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburgh. The names of 18 guild members are recorded on a plaque that is visible in the background, though it was added only later to the painting. Literature tends to interpret the remaining persons as allegories.

“The Night Watch” is one of the best known and most popular paintings of Rembrandt. It was commissioned for the banquet hall of the Amsterdam Archers Guild and remained there until 1715. Then, it came into Amsterdam’s city hall and was clipped on all four sides, because the original larger format did not fit the new location. Indeed, the original painting was 4.02 meters high and 5.10 meters wide.

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp

admin — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 18:01:38 +0000

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp is a painting by Rembrandt van Rijn, executed in 1632 in oil on canvas and having the dimensions of 169,5 cm x 216.5 cm. Today it belongs to the collection of the Mauritshuis in The Hague.

Two people in the painting are particularly exposed: One is the physician Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, who explains the skeletal muscles to the spectators. The other is the dead: Adriaan Adriaanszoon. A a violent street robber, who had been hanged for his crimes. The spectators are Jacob Jansz Colevelt, Adrian Cornilsz Slabberaen, Mathys Evertsz Calkoen Jacob Jansz de Witt, Jacob Dielofse Block and Frans van Loenen as suggested by both the order for the painting and the hand-held paper in the middle. Anatomy demonstrations in the 17 Century were a social event: they were held in so-called anatomical theaters for a paying audiences, consisting typically of guild colleagues, students and dignitaries.

The spectators in The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp are festively dressed, according to the social event. As Dr. Tulp himself they are members of the Amsterdam guild of barbers and surgeons. Tulp maintains a higher rank, though, what is reflected by the fact that Dr. Tulp is the only one still wearing his hat. However, one person missing: the taxidermist. Dr. Tulp was a man of science, not of everyday business. The 17th Century made a fine distinction between the men of science, who explained and those who had to do the crafts.

Consequently, there are no cutting instruments in the painting. Instead the painting includes a huge book in the lower right edge; probably a textbook of anatomy. An interesting thing about this painting is an error: The raised muscle (flexor digitorum superficialis) should actually be on the inside of the elbow while the painting shows it on the outside. Rembrandt had only 25 years old when he painted The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp. Nevertheless, in particular in the person of the dead, the painting shows already a feature that Rembrandt increasingly practiced in his later years: the shading of faces, a hint of the umbra mortis.

Rembrandt: Belshazzar's Feast

admin — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 12:56:43 +0000

Rembrandt: Belshazzar's Feast, oil on canvas, 1635, today: National Gallery, London

The Feast of Belshazzar or more often Belshazzar’s Feast is a famous painting by Rembrandt based on the Bible story of the Babylonian ruler Belshazzar. The latter was predicted his impending death and the ruin of his empire by a mysterious handwriting on a wall. Various artists tried theirselves with this very theme. The painting to be seen here was executed by Rembrandt in about 1635. Belshazzar’s Feast is signed “Rembrandt f. 163rd”, but the last digit is not legible. The painting Belshazzar’s Feast is not less than 1.67 x 2.09 meters tall, executed as oil on canvas and is exposed today at the National Gallery in London.

The story of Belshazzar is described in the Old Testament of the Bible (The Feast of Belshazzar, Daniel 5:25). Belshazzar is celebrating a grand party. At this occasion he would use vessels, which his father had captured in the temple of Jerusalem, while a ghostly writing appeared on the wall of his palace. Immediately he summoned his scribes, but they just proved being incapable of deciphering the text. However, the Prophet Daniel, laid in chains, was called now and read: מנא ,מנא, תקל, ופרסין (Mene, Mene, Tekel u-Pharsin). Daniel and interpreted the writing on the wall as a prophecy for fall of Belshazzar and his kingdom. Indeed, in the same night Belshazzar was slain by his servants.

The literal translation of Mene, Mene, Tekel u-Pharsin from Aramaic is unclear. Daniel interpreted the oracle with the help of similar-sounding Aramaic verbs: counted, weighed and divided. Daniel interpreted as follows:
God hath counted thy kingdom, and end it
You have been weighed and found being to light
Thy kingdom will be divided and given to the Medes and Persians.

Rembrandt captured in his painting the moment as the mysterious handwriting appears on the wall. Despite the festive situation, the terrified faces of those present and the horror of Belshazzar’s dominate the artwork. The king obviously does not understand the lettering; nevertheless he has a strong feeling that it could mean no good. While other painters skipped in their paintings of Belshazzar’s Feast usually the presentation of the mysterious script, – no one knew exactly how it write it – Rembrandt took up the challenge. Probably Rabbi Manasseh ben Israel, who had been portrayed by Rembrandt in 1636, helped Rembrandt in this regard. The script is written in Hebrew letters andto be read from the right to the left, and especially to read from the top to the bottom.