Donated in memory of Harry F. Keller
Ever-vigilant and on their guard, Rembrandt’s majestic group portrait captures the patience, the inscrutable humility, and the everyday heroism of a neighborhood militia. Keeping watch over their locality and, in a wider-sense, over the nation itself, the Dutch master’s canvas depicts what would not have been an unusual sight in the towns and cities of Holland during heir attempt to win independence from the Spanish. Commissioned at the height of the Dutch Golden Age of painting, Rembrandt delivered the painting in 1642 to the members of the civic militia guard pictured within the frame and was paid an astronomical sum for his troubles. The Night Watch was originally named, rather drily, The Company of captain Frans Banning Cocq and lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch preparing to march out, perhaps not fully grasping the enduring legacy that this triumphant work would hold in the national zeitgeist.
Brimming with austerity and humility, in typical style the artist adds a touch of heaven in his vision of commonality. An enigmatic little girl commands an ethereal light that separates her from the posse yet does not capture the attention of the soldiers. Instead, they stand forever poised in their own personal and idiosyncratic manner that suggests if danger presented itself would see their coiled stances spring off beyond the confines of the frame. Steeled against their own individual vulnerability, the men of The Night Watch form one of the ultimate images of democracy, coming together to protect their people from the coming of night.
