The painting "Night Watch" by Rembrandt became a watershed in the work of the artist. And besides, she hides many secrets that art critics are still trying to solve. This work is exhibited in the Netherlands at the State Museum.
Therefore, unfortunately, not everyone can see this wonderful creation, which created Rembrandt - "Night Watch". A photo depicting this picture will never convey all the beauty and originality of the created masterpiece, but only represents an ordinary copy.
The fatal work of the author, almost breaking his life
Quite a few ancient works of great authors today look much darker than at the time when they were created. The soot from fireplaces and almost constantly lit candles had a negative impact on many masterpieces.
"Night Watch" is one of the most famous works, and it was written by a famous artist in one thousand six hundred and forty-two. Initially, it had a completely different name. The creator himself called it "Performance of the rifle company of Captain Frans Bunning Cock and Lieutenant Willem Van Reitenburg."
Prior to this picture, Rembrandt Van Rijn was famous for his excellent craftsmanship, and often very rich people with various orders addressed him quite often. But this work completely changed his life. And, unfortunately, the famous creator ended his last days eking out a miserable existence. Sometimes he had to do his job just for a piece of bread or a plate of food.
What impression does the painting make at first glance, or Her first mystery
In the fateful work, which was created by Rembrandt Van Rijn ("Night Watch"), there are persons depicted precisely in the foreground. This is a captain walking in a black suit and with a red band. And also the lieutenant walking next to him, who is dressed in a golden camisole. And immediately the impression of an unbridled booth happening around is surprising. All this somehow fits very badly with its serious name "Night Watch".
It turned out that this work was designated much later, already in the nineteenth century. When the picture is already pretty darkened by the past. Looking at her dark color, it never occurred to anyone that the artist Van Rijn, as it turned out, depicted a sunny day. And only in the nineteen forty-seventh year, when the painting "Night Watch" by Rembrandt was restored, experts drew attention to how the shadows of the characters fall.
So it turned out that in fact this is a day watch. And the described action takes place around noon. However, this is not the only secret present in the work. The masterpiece that Rembrandt created - "Night Watch" - a description of the picture and its further study will reveal several more mysteries.
Seventeenth-century popular painting style
In the seventeenth century, group portraits were very popular. A certain team was thrown off in equal shares and paid for the work of the artist. But everyone wanted to be immortalized on an equal footing with a colleague. And of course, close-up. Rembrandt Van Rijn received an order from a rifle company, since he was very famous for his mastery of portraiture.
Each member of the appealing customer group contributed its share in the payment of Van Rijn's work. And now, looking at the picture, you can easily guess why his customers were unhappy. Apart from the captain and lieutenant walking in the foreground, all the other figures seem to be secondary. Some kind of extras in the background. Of course, they were left offended, they paid everything equally.
The inconsolable grief of the artist and subsequent troubles
Customer dissatisfaction cast a very serious shadow on the status of Rembrandt. He stopped giving orders. It turned out to be unpopular and not in demand for a wealthy public. For any artist, this would be a serious blow. But for Van Rijn it turned out to be double. Since it was in that year when the painting "Night Watch" was painted, Rembrandt suffered uncomfortable grief - his wife Saskia died.
The wealth of his wife allowed him to live in a big way, without denying anything to himself. Now, when Saskia died and the customers turned away, the career of the creator began to decline. And the rest of his life, he lived on the money of creditors, working, as they say now, for food and housing.
Rembrandt " The night Watch". Description of the picture or its next riddle
To the end, in general, it is not clear why the artist stepped back from the canons and went against his customers. There is a version that blame the sick imagination of Rembrandt Van Rijn. He had a terrible disease - syphilis. And according to another version, the picture reflects the contract killings of the former company captain, whose place was taken by Kok in black. And some experts believe that this picture is a friendly joke on inexperienced members of the company.
The fact is that by the time the picture was painted, the rifle companies were already purely nominal. Well-off citizens entered them, sometimes to come with honor to the parade. For the inhabitants of that time, it was obvious that exactly how these musketeers are depicted clearly shows that they do not know how to handle muskets.
Little dwarf in a golden outfit and with the face of his beloved wife
Thus, the parody and satire of this picture is not in doubt. The only contradiction is caused by the golden dwarf, which is the compositional center that this painting "Night Watch" by Rembrandt Van Rijn represents.
Despite the girl’s small stature , she has the adult face of the artist’s wife Sasuke. It is quite clearly visible that it literally emits light. No one knows about Rembrandt’s plan, so a lot of different guesses are being built about this girl. Perhaps, according to the fashion of those times, the master wanted to combine several meanings in one character at once. Glowing angel, because his wife was a muse and helped him in everything. Girl, since the military was always accompanied by small dealers, hiring them for ordinary supplies.
Parody of frivolous behavior
If you look closely, then on the belt of this girl you can see a hanging chicken. This is also not just so, but with a certain meaning. In general, the arms of the Dutch shooters of that time often depicted birds of prey with crossed legs, such as falcons or hawks.
Therefore, here the artist Rembrandt, whose paintings are always full of deep meaning, shows chicken legs. Either scoffs, or hints at the spread of frivolous behavior. Because these birds were a symbol of girls of easy virtue.
People seriously studying great masterpieces
To people far from art, all this symbolism may seem a bit far-fetched, but art critics seriously study all the smallest details of paintings in order to unravel the messages of the creator. After all, painting is a symbolic language. Therefore, it is of great importance not only who was originally depicted on the masterpiece, but also how exactly the artist did it.
So is the picture that Rembrandt painted - "Night Watch". Its description and study was carried out by very experienced specialists and that is why it helped to solve many of its mysteries. Any second, third and fourth meanings and great works differ from simple paintings that are sold in transitions.
There are other mysteries in the work. Art historians have about a hundred questions to which there are still no answers. Undoubtedly, only one thing - it was Night Watch that became the fateful picture for Rembrandt Van Rijn.