Night watch

(1642; Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum)

   Painted by Rembrandt in 1642, the Night Watch portrays officers of the Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq and his Lieutenant William van Ruijtenburgh. The title of the painting is a 19th-century fabrication based solely on the fact that the scene takes place in a dark room. Unlike traditional portraits of militia company members where figures pose while seated around a table, this one shows the individuals in action. As they ready themselves to participate in a parade, Captain Cocq gives his lieutenant his final instructions, a young gunpowder boy waits in the foreground, a drummer practices, an officer raises the company flag, and others ready their muskets and lances. Left center, a girl runs across the room, surprisingly receiving the greatest amount of light in the painting. She is dressed in blue and gold, the company's colors, and from her waist dangles a dead bird with claws prominently shown, the company's emblem. With these particulars, she becomes the personification of the group's heraldic device. The dramatic chiaroscuro effects, oblique arrangements of figures, banners, and weapons, and the excitement of the moment classify this work as decidedly Baroque.