Rembrandt’s famous painting The Night Watch undergoes major restoration in the Netherlands
Dutch master Rembrandt’s 1642 painting The Night Watch is being meticulously restored at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam
Five years after the start of an intensive examination of Rembrandt’s The Night Watch, a major restoration of the world-famous artwork has now begun.
“The entire life of the 400-year-old painting is becoming visible again,” Casper van der Kruit of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam said. Traces of earlier corrections and repairs, as well as attacks, are becoming visible again.
This is the third stage of Operation Night Watch, which is the largest research and restoration project of Rembrandt’s masterpiece to date. And it is all being carried out under the gaze of visitors to the Rijksmuseum, behind a specially built glass wall.
The Night Watch, which depicts a militia in Amsterdam and was completed in 1642, is around 3.63 metres (12ft) high and 4.37 metres wide. It is the best-known work of the Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669).
Eight restorers will first precisely remove the old layers of varnish. They use special cloths soaked in solvent for the job. Inch by inch, they move from the sides of the painting to the centre.
