REMBRANDT’S NIGHTWATCH UNVEILED
June 30th, 2010 | 2:31 pm
Rembrandt van Rijn, Nightwatch (Militia Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq), 1642. Oil on canvas, 3.6 x 4.4m (10 ft 10 in x 14ft 4 in).
On June 30, 1945, Rembrandt van Rijn’s masterpiece, Nightwatch (Militia Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq), was formally unrolled at the Rijksmuseum after having been returned to Amsterdam by the Dutch canal system on a special boat.
Photo Courtesy of NARA.
The painting had spent the last six years in hiding, in no fewer than four different repositories. It traveled from Castricum, to Heemskerk, to St. Pietersberg, and finally to a specially constructed bombproof shelter at Paaslo.
Photo Courtesy of NARA.
After the painting was unrolled, it was reattached to its stretcher and carefully examined by Rijksmuseum officials, as seen in the photo above. From left to right: Professors Reuling and Wolter of the Committee of Amsterdam; Dr. C. Lindeman, a director of the Rijksmuseum; D.C. Roell, general director of the Rijksmuseum; and (second from right) the Dutch painter Ruter, also a member of the Committee of Amsterdam.
Tags: Amsterdam, Nightwatch, Professors Reuling and Wolter, Rembrandt van Rijn, Rijksmuseum
I saw a good account of this fascinating story on an edition of the BBC’s ‘The Private Life of a Masterpiece.’