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Time to revisit Rembrandt's The Night Watch, a glowing symbol of democracy Time to revisit Rembrandt's The Night Watch, a glowing symbol of democracy
(5 months later)
On a sunny morning in Amsterdam with banners welcoming a new monarch still decorating the streets, thousands of Dutch people crowded the other day into the recently reopened Rijksmuseum to enjoy their artistic heritage. And the world's.On a sunny morning in Amsterdam with banners welcoming a new monarch still decorating the streets, thousands of Dutch people crowded the other day into the recently reopened Rijksmuseum to enjoy their artistic heritage. And the world's.
A lot has changed in that museum during a rebuilding that kept it closed for 10 years, but one thing has remained constant. At the heart of its grandest gallery hangs, just as it ever did, Rembrandt van Rijn's masterpiece The Night Watch. Better lit than ever before, commanding a beautiful expansive hall, this national treasure holds the stage before a swarming, admiring crowd for whom – in a Dutch spring that has drawn eyes to the commonsense scale and attitudes of this polity where a monarch rationally retires to make way for the future – The Night Watch is plainly a symbol of Dutch nationhood.A lot has changed in that museum during a rebuilding that kept it closed for 10 years, but one thing has remained constant. At the heart of its grandest gallery hangs, just as it ever did, Rembrandt van Rijn's masterpiece The Night Watch. Better lit than ever before, commanding a beautiful expansive hall, this national treasure holds the stage before a swarming, admiring crowd for whom – in a Dutch spring that has drawn eyes to the commonsense scale and attitudes of this polity where a monarch rationally retires to make way for the future – The Night Watch is plainly a symbol of Dutch nationhood.
A patchwork parliament of varied individuals congregate in Rembrandt's democratic painting. The Night Watch was painted in the 17th century as a group portrait of a militia company led by one Frans Banning Cocq. Companies of urban militia were part of the everyday life of the Dutch Republic, as it asserted its independence from the Spanish empire. Yet Rembrandt's masterpiece is nothing like a conventional patriotic painting. It simultaneously transcends and mocks its context.A patchwork parliament of varied individuals congregate in Rembrandt's democratic painting. The Night Watch was painted in the 17th century as a group portrait of a militia company led by one Frans Banning Cocq. Companies of urban militia were part of the everyday life of the Dutch Republic, as it asserted its independence from the Spanish empire. Yet Rembrandt's masterpiece is nothing like a conventional patriotic painting. It simultaneously transcends and mocks its context.
Instead of a distinguished company of worthy officers and well-trained men Rembrandt shows a baroque profusion of gestures and expressions, a raggle taggle crowd of comic types from an old soldier hunched over his gun to the preening figures of the militia captain and his lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch. He also adds enigmatic details – why is there a little girl among the soldiers and why does light fall on her in such a moving golden glow?Instead of a distinguished company of worthy officers and well-trained men Rembrandt shows a baroque profusion of gestures and expressions, a raggle taggle crowd of comic types from an old soldier hunched over his gun to the preening figures of the militia captain and his lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch. He also adds enigmatic details – why is there a little girl among the soldiers and why does light fall on her in such a moving golden glow?
No two faces point the same way: everyone is looking somewhere else and every figure is differently aligned. Instead of discipline, Rembrandt suggests something close to chaos. In British terms it is more Dad's Army than Lady Thatcher's funeral. So why is The Night Watch so stirring? Why is it considered a national symbol when it seems to mock the Dutch as part-time soldiers and foolish burghers?No two faces point the same way: everyone is looking somewhere else and every figure is differently aligned. Instead of discipline, Rembrandt suggests something close to chaos. In British terms it is more Dad's Army than Lady Thatcher's funeral. So why is The Night Watch so stirring? Why is it considered a national symbol when it seems to mock the Dutch as part-time soldiers and foolish burghers?
The comedy of this immense pairing is counterposed with tragedy. It is, truly, a watch through the night. The human, all too human company stand together against encroaching shadows. A soft, enfolding fog of night surrounds them. The light that illuminates them is a flash in the dark. They are all the more heroic for being so vulnerable, flawed and eccentric. Most of all, they stand together, as a human community. Rembrandt's masterpiece in modern times has come to epitomise Dutch national pride, and the reopening of the Rijksmuseum in which it holds court was a national event on a par with the coronation. Yet it also has a universal political significance.The comedy of this immense pairing is counterposed with tragedy. It is, truly, a watch through the night. The human, all too human company stand together against encroaching shadows. A soft, enfolding fog of night surrounds them. The light that illuminates them is a flash in the dark. They are all the more heroic for being so vulnerable, flawed and eccentric. Most of all, they stand together, as a human community. Rembrandt's masterpiece in modern times has come to epitomise Dutch national pride, and the reopening of the Rijksmuseum in which it holds court was a national event on a par with the coronation. Yet it also has a universal political significance.
No other great painting so powerfully depicts democracy. In classical Athens, the sculpted Parthenon frieze represented Athenian democracy to itself in an image of a communal procession. The Night Watch too epitomises an entire community. But in a daringly modern move it makes that community look vulnerable.No other great painting so powerfully depicts democracy. In classical Athens, the sculpted Parthenon frieze represented Athenian democracy to itself in an image of a communal procession. The Night Watch too epitomises an entire community. But in a daringly modern move it makes that community look vulnerable.
In the 21st century, as democracy and community are beset by menaces from climate change to the violent economics of austerity, The Night Watch ought to be cherished as political art. It portrays not only what the Dutch, but all democracies ought to hold dear – the courage of flawed human beings to come together while acknowledging one another's individuality and difference. It is an icon of tolerance, diversity and the magic golden light that makes a society work. While these ordinary people stand guard, we feel a bit safer in our collective defiance of the dark.In the 21st century, as democracy and community are beset by menaces from climate change to the violent economics of austerity, The Night Watch ought to be cherished as political art. It portrays not only what the Dutch, but all democracies ought to hold dear – the courage of flawed human beings to come together while acknowledging one another's individuality and difference. It is an icon of tolerance, diversity and the magic golden light that makes a society work. While these ordinary people stand guard, we feel a bit safer in our collective defiance of the dark.
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