File:Rembrandt - his life, his work, and his time (1903) (14598490008).jpg

Identifier: rembrandthislife00mich (find matches)
Title: Rembrandt : his life, his work, and his time
Year: 1903 (1900s)
Authors: Michel, Emile, 1828-1909 Wedmore, Frederick, Sir, 1844-1921
Subjects: Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, 1606-1669
Publisher: London : Heinemann New York : Scribner
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive

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tails suggested by his imaginative instinct,thus summing up all the essential and characteristic features of suchan episode. To us, we must confess, the masters intention seems patent at thefirst glance. The incident is unquestionably a call to arms of thecivic guard. The two officers have hastened to the domicile of thecompany ; they seek to stimulate the zeal of their followers by pressing-forward themselves. The captain gives his orders to the lieutenant ;behind them the drum beats the alarm, and the ensign unfurls hisstandard. Every man snatches up a weapon of some sort, musket,lance, or halberd. Dogs bark ; children, eager to share in the com-motion, slip in among the soldiers. The composition agrees on everypoint with the idea it suggests, and there is no room for doubt as to thetheme. But fault has been found with the work on another score.It has been pointed out that the canvas is crowded to excess ; that itaffords no repose to the eye ; and has the appearance of being pent in
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o ^VW^ks. THE NIGHT WATCH 219 and imprisoned by the frame. The feet of the two officers touch theedge in the centre ; the drum on the right, the child who is runnino-,and the man seated on the parapet to the left are cut in two bythe frame. The eftect of this is extremely startling and unpleasant.The composition has no definite limits, and instead of graduallymelting away, as it were, is suddenly cut short at either end. Butfor these undeniable blemishes the master is in no wise account-able. They are due, not to Rembrandt, but to those who mutilatedhis creation. The fact of these mutilations has been completely established, inspite of Vosmaer and De Vries, whose patriotic sentiments movedthem to discredit it. Dr. J. Dyserinck fully discussed the question ina study recently published in Holland,^ and tells us why and whenthis act of vandalism was committed. He learnt from* documentsamong the archives that the Night IVatcJi was placed in the Hall ofthe Musketeers Doclen in 1642, and wa

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