A Study of The Night Watch, Artwork by Rembrandt Van Rijn

“The Night Watch”

Rembrandt van Rijn’s The Night Watch is a very influential piece of art, and it embodies the rise of secular art in Europe, as well as the rise of Dutch democracy as it is known today. The Night Watch features secular elements that symbolize Dutch pride and democracy, and it was painted during the Northern Baroque movement (specifically the Dutch Golden Age). The piece undermined the catholic church in that it was painted to show human and secular emotions, as well as represent the Dutch nationhood that was becoming more prominent than the church.

Rembrandt was born in the 17th century at around the same time as the (modern) Dutch nation (Wallace, 22). The nations of The Netherlands were finally gaining the freedom that they had wanted for years. In 1609, the seven northern Dutch provinces were freed from the political rule of the Spanish empire, and the nation’s institutions were now starting to become democratic after these “United Provinces” achieved freedom under what was called the House of Orange . The United Provinces were Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelderland, Overjissel, Friesland, and Groningen. After establishing their freedom, the United Provinces began to seek an even stronger sense of democracy. Representatives were sent by each province to the “modest court” of the Netherlands’ government. This failed, however, since each province considered itself to be self-governing in every aspect excluding foreign policy and defense . Overall, even though there were obstacles throughout the process of becoming a successfully democratic nation that was freed from Spain, The Netherlands was able to thrive and turn into a close-knit nation. The General standing with his men shows the success & true comradery of the newly-established Dutch democracy. This shows the small-scale comradery that was experienced by the General and his men that was also seen throughout the majority of the Netherlands, and a large part of Europe. Democracy was gaining more popularity than the Catholic church, and this contributed to the larger-scale downfall of the Catholic church.This is because people turned away from the church for movements such as Protestantism and Lutheranism.

Martin Luther strongly disliked many contradictory and unjust aspects of the Catholic church, and for this reason he started his own movement. Luther disagreed with the Catholic church when it came to things such as indulgences - he found them to be pointless. He also strongly disliked that members of the clergy were going to brothels and engaging in unholy acts with prostitutes. Essentially, Luther believed that one did not have to go to church to be a “good” Christian. Arguably, Luther’s greatest achievement was attaching his “99 theses” to the door of the Church at the University of Wittenburg, where he attended and taught. These theses were 99 aspects of the church that Luther found were serious issues.

Rembrandt’s personal life set the stage for his prominence in the art world. His wealthy background, interestingly enough, contrasts with the artwork that he produced later in life. Rembrandt was born on July 15, 1606 in Leiden, Netherlands (Clark, 11) as the eighth of nine children (Wallace, 21). He was born under the name “van Rijn” because it means “of the Rhine River,” due to the fact that his wealthy miller father owned land near the Rhine River (Arpino, 17). This wealth did not seem to affect his art very much later in life. His mother, Cornelia Willemsdochter van Zuytbrouck, was also relatively well-off, being the daughter of a baker (Wallace, 21).Rembrandt was very cultured from an early age, as he was sent to learn Latin at the age of 7 . At age 15, his wealthy father sent him to a university (Clark, 11). In his young adulthood, Rembrandt learned painting basics from Jacob van Swanenburgh as his apprentice . After his apprenticeship, Rembrandt moved back to Leiden and spent a large amount of time collaborating with Jan Lievens. This collaboration continued until 1631 when he moved to Amsterdam, Netherlands (Clark, 63). Four years later, Rembrandt married Saskia van Uylenburgh, who was the daughter of a family that was more prominent than Rembrandt’s - this led to him living in even greater wealth (Munz, 8). Once again, this wealth did not affect the quality of the art that he would make later in life. His art was very dark, messy, and drab - not the characteristics that one would expect from a wealthy artist. Perhaps Rembrandt did this so that the viewer would focus more on the message as opposed to the aesthetic of the art - this is very plausible, since Rembrandt’s messages were very forward-thinking in the sense that they contradicted the messages of religious art that promoted the ever-so-powerful Catholic church.

While an analysis of Rembrandt’s well-rounded upbringing leads one to the conclusion that he was a Renaissance man, Rembrandt was actually alive during the Northern Baroque period. While these two periods did overlap, the Northern Baroque ended up reaching its peak after the Renaissance was over. This artistic movement heavily undermined the church, because the artists that took part in the movement filled their art with a sense of human emotion and realism, while the juxtaposed Italian Baroque movement featured quite the opposite. The Italian Baroque was mainly comprised of pieces that were commissioned by the church to depict things such as biblical characters. Northern Baroque is characterized as being highly secular, as opposed to the Italian Baroque that featured heavy Christian symbolism and imagery. The Northern Baroque movement represented the resurgence of man’s reason and free will that started taking effect on Europe during the Renaissance. This is because, once again, the paintings featured secular themes that emphasized real human emotions, and gave the viewer something to which they could relate. The Night Watch is a perfect exemplification of this, since while artists of the Italian Baroque movement were painting depictions of Christian symbols and images, people like Rembrandt were contributing to the Northern Baroque movement by painting secular pieces such as this that represented things such as reason and democracy. As for the basics of this piece, it is 13’ x 16’ (Rembrandtpainting.net). The piece was commissioned by Captain Frans Banning Cocq (IBID). Cocq’s high position as a mayor in Amsterdam means that this piece was secularly significant, because this shows how power was turning from the church and to people such as mayors that made up smaller portions of the larger-scale democracy of the Netherlands.

The Night Watch was painted in the same year as the death of Rembrandt’s wife (Munz, 8). It is possible that this influenced the work, because the painting shows an ominous sadness within the dark portions, as well as the overall facial expressions of the men, as if they are reacting to chaos. They are looking off into the distance as if their attention is directed towards something that is an immediate threat to them. It is as if Rembrandt wanted to paint their faces as a direct reaction the power and control of the Church. The painting utilizes chiaroscuro, which is the contrast of dark and light, to direct the viewer’s attention to certain parts of the piece, such as the little girl. The thick and messy brush strokes are a characteristic of art from the Northern Baroque period. These brush strokes are representative of the human emotion that goes into the piece and in the message that the piece is meant to convey. In the case of The Night Watch, Rembrandt wanted the piece to speak messages of democracy and reason. During this time period, due to the fact that the church was not commissioning religious pieces, portraits became very common, among other types of art. All of this art, if not completely secular, tended to hint at the church’s fading obscurity, such as Bruegel’s Hunters in the Snow. It featured churches placed very far in the background to represent their fall in popularity. This presumably is organized as such so that the viewer can recognize the church’s existence, but also see the symbolic message of the fact that the power and influence of the Catholic church was declining.

While the Northern Baroque is often recognized for its physical characteristics, there is a much deeper significance to the art of this period based on the historical context and secular symbolism within the art. The undermining of the Catholic church that was taking place not only in the Netherlands, but also in Europe, is shown in the art of the Northern Baroque. This sharply contrasts from the Italian Baroque movement, which was happening on the southern side of Europe. Italian baroque consisted of pieces that were commissioned by the church and incorporated religious elements such as biblical characters and biblical tales. The method in which Rembrandt painted the piece shows naturalistic and humanistic beliefs. It is not meant to look perfect or “divine.” Three figures are illuminated the most in this piece: Captain Banning Cocq, the lieutenant, and a little girl. This represents how politics were becoming more important than religion, and how the Catholic church was losing power. This is because the men are depicted as very glorious, and there is seemingly no reference to the church (until we analyze the meaning of the little girl). The men look glorious due to the fact that their facial expressions show bravery in the face of chaos. Once again, it seems that Rembrandt could have been implying that the power of the Church was chaotic. During the Northern Baroque period, less and less people went to church, and for this reason not much artwork was commissioned by churches. This is why Rembrandt’s piece was commissioned by a General as opposed to someone such as the pope. In the piece are General Banning Cocq and his men. They are all attentive and look ready to sacrifice themselves for the sake of reason. This was presumably depicted to show the braveness of the men. We are almost unable to make out the background of the piece, and this brings focus to the men, even though they themselves are partially darkened. Perhaps the most prominent figure in the piece is the little girl, because she is illuminated the brightest. She is depicted wearing a dress and what looks to be a halo. It is very plausible that this is a representation of the gradual obscurity and weakness of the Catholic church at this time. The little girl is depicted behind the General. She also has a timid look about her, as if she knows that there is attention being put onto her and she does not know how to react. This is representative of the reaction of the church when they were becoming discredited.For example, although it happened a few hundred years before, the church received negative attention after the Great Western Schism left them with three popes and a complete lack of order. The little girl shows us a contrast from the glorious men that are now the center of the Netherlands. Moving on in the piece, the viewer can see a flag in the background that, once again, symbolizes the nationhood that was becoming ever so prominent. Around the main men in the piece are many people standing and look as if they are moving. This shows commotion due to the fact that such respectable people are in their presence.

Rembrandt did not only use his art to express religion, but he used it to express his own beliefs, such as his socio-political views (IBID). This is potentially a large cause of the secular symbolism throughout The Night Watch. As was said before, the piece was commissioned by Captain Frans Banning Cocq. He wanted it to be a portrait of him and the 17 civil guards that were under his command. It was supposed to be a normal portrait of the men, however Rembrandt orchestrated the layout of the painting in such a way that instead of showing order, it actually resembles chaos (The Guardian). The people are all standing in different ways, and there is no real order to the painting. This is possibly a representation of the lack of order that the Catholic church gave Europe, while Dutch democracy was creating a newfound sense of order. Although this painting is considered a “national symbol,” it seems to create a bit of a mockery of the government at the time (IBID). This is because Rembrandt went against the instructions of the general who commissioned the piece by not depicting everyone in the painting with equal importance, as well as including characters in the painting that were not supposed to be in the piece. Ironically, it still promoted the idea of the new Dutch democracy due to the fact that this whole “crew” under Banning Cocq, while not painted in the manner that they commissioned, are still pictured together

The piece, as mentioned before, undermined the church in the sense that it promoted the nationhood and democracy that people were starting to focus more on than they were to the church. It is very safe to assume that Rembrandt supported Calvinism, due to the fact that it shared similar principles to the principles that were evident in the piece. Calvinism was essentially the belief that God had already predetermined who would be accepted into Heaven. With this being said, Calvinism also contained the belief that the church served no real purpose and that, once again, everybody was predestined to either be accepted or declined into Hell. Calvinism and the piece tie together due to the fact that they both represent the idea of not letting the church overpower one’s reason. The piece shows humans exemplifying their bravery and pride, and not cowering behind the church. This is due to the fact that the men look like they are poised to react to any sort of chaos that is thrown at them, and are not afraid of using their own wits and reason to solve problems.

When analyzing the piece, we can also easily make connections to The Miller’s Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer. In this story, we are presented with a carpenter named John who follows the church. We are also presented with Nick, a character that contrasts John. Nick was a Renaissance man, meaning that he was essentially a master of all trades. Although the end of the story doesn’t prove to be in either of the characters’ favor, the majority of the story shows that Nicholas had the upperhand over the carpenter. It shows that knowledge prevails over faith. It is almost as if Nicholas could have been one of the men in the piece by Rembrandt. He showed his bravery through reason. The knowledge that he possessed in the story would have been very revolutionary for his time. For example, at one point the carpenter thought that Nicholas’s books have made him crazy - it is almost as if the carpenter saw knowledge as some sort of demonic parasite that corrupts the mind. The carpenter thought that it s better to have blind faith - this is similar to the viewpoints of people during the period in which Rembrandt painted his masterpiece. On one side of Europe, people were wanting to see art that was commissioned by the church and that had religious themes to which people blindly looked up. On the northern side of Europe, the church’s loss of power was beginning to become evident as churches stopped commissioning artwork and instead the artwork was either made by the artists on their own time or commissioned by people such as General Banning Cocq.

Rembrandt’s piece is a perfect exemplification of the Northern Baroque period and its qualities. The Northern Baroque period proved for a lack of frescoes, as well as a rise in oil painting. Additionally, people such as wealthy merchants began to pay for paintings to be commissioned. This is why the piece was created in the first place. Rembrandt painted the piece in a very straightforward and rough manner. A critic at the time described Rembrandt’s painting: “What a coarse rugged Way of Painting's here, Stroaks upon Stroaks, Dabbs upon Dabbs appear. The Work you' d think was huddled up in haste, But mark how truly ev'ry Colour's placed, With such Oeconomy in such a sort, That they each mutually support. Rembrant! thy Pencil plays a subtil Part This Roughness is [contrived] to hide thy Art” (Munz, 8). While it appeared that Rembrandt was lazy and hastily created his art pieces, it is much more plausible that he, especially with The Night Watch, focused much more on the message than he did with the quality of art.

Overall, once we understand the historical context of this piece, it is easy to see what Rembrandt was conveying through his art. Not only did he convey secularity by painting this piece in the style of Northern Baroque, but he also included symbols that promoted the idea of Dutch democracy and nationhood. This nationhood undermined the Catholic church by distracting Christians, and once they were distracted from the church, they would then begin to practice Christianity with the help of other philosophies such as Calvinism.