Dutch Master Re-Do

The Nightwatch and The New Nightwatch

VFD’s Frans Dingemans selected much of the art and antiques in Eurodam’s collection. For a theme, Dingemans chose the “The Dutch Golden Age — An Inexhaustible Tradition,” because works by the great Dutch painters of the 17th century have been repeatedly reinterpreted through the ages.

Works of Rembrandt van Rijn of Leiden have been especially popular subjects for reinterpretation. His largest and most famous painting is The Nightwatch, and 400 years after Rembrandt painted it, a group of young Dutch artists decided reinterpreted it in 2006.

For the project, called The New Nightwatch, they produced four versions of the work. On Eurodam, the version made by Aldert Mantje and Jan Maris, both living in Amsterdam, will be displayed.

At first sight their modern version (right) looks nearly identical to the original Nightwatch. The color scheme is the same and the details are painted in Rembrandt’s famous style. But take a closer look, and you can see subtle changes in the positions of the figures. This version is The Nightwatch, Two Minutes Later, where two minutes have lapsed since Rembrandt’s original version.

The painting’s main figure, Baning Cocq, has dropped his glove. He signals Ruytenberg on his right to send the company in another direction. The holder of the kruit reaches for Cocq’s glove. The red musketeer fills his musket. The blond girl gives the glass to the man with the guitar. Rembrandt himself steps out from the shadows of the gate behind the company. The dog exits the scene.

How many other changes do you see?