©Discovered and written in 1994    This may not be reproduced, copied or used for personal gain without the express written permission of the author.

INTRODUCTION: Below is writings out of "The Life and Times of Rembrandt Van Rijn"  written by Hendrik  Van Loon , and discoveries by Bob Miller

Rembrandt's closest friend and long-time admirer was his personal physician, DR. Joannis "Jan" Van Loon. DR. Van Loon occupied a position, at the master's side, much as did the fictional "DR. Watson" did in the Sherlock Holme's mysteries.  This confidant of Rembrandt's was, however, not a fictional character.  He did keep scrupulous notes of the activities of the pair and in-depth descriptions of the works created by his artistic mentor.  In fact, most of the world only knows Rembrandt only by his first name.   His true name was Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn.   DR. Van Loon's notes were found by one of his descendants, Hendrik Willem Van Loon and compiled into a book, "R.v.R.  The Life and Times of Rembrandt van Rijn," published in 1930 by the Literary Guild, New York and copyrighted by Horace Liveright. According to the compiler of that book, few persons of his era understood the works of Rembrandt nor was he held in high regard by his brethren artist or "art critics".

One popular volume published by the painter, Gerald de Lairesse, of Belgium, is quoted as stating:

"In his effort to attain a mellow manner, Rembrandt van Rijn has merely succeeded in achieving an effect of rottenness. The vulgar and prosaic aspects of a subject were the only ones he was capable of noting and with his so-called red and yellow tones, he set the fatal example of shadows so hot that they seem actually aglow and of colors that appear to lie like liquid mud on the canvas."

As the great fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes, might have remarked to DR. Watson, "You look, but you do not see.  You see, but you do not observe".  So was the fate of Rembrandt van Rijn-  to be truly unremarkable to his generation and to be so glorious to ours.  And yet nearly 400 years later, we still see but do not comprehend the true genius still hidden within the  work known as the "Night Watch".  The following is an adaptation of the Van Loon writing on the subject, augmented by the personal observations and discoveries of Robert J. Miller.    Mr. Miller is a student of the life and artistic works of Rembrandt.  He owns the "New Discoveries Art Gallery" in Nampa, Idaho and has traveled to Amsterdam, Holland to rigorously scrutinize the mysteries of the master's works first hand.

THE DAY THE NIGHT WATCH DANCED

As described by DR. Van Loon and adapted by Robert J. Miller, Rembrandt tried to demonstrate to his friend the trick of making the "Night Watch" painting yield it's secret:

And then he pulled a heavy bench in front of the picture, once more closed the curtains that were furthest away from the picture.  Then Rembrandt closed the nearest curtains, just partially closed, thereby fairly forcing the figure in white (which was in the center of the painting) to "march right out of the frame".  He made me to sit down in front of the painting and seated himself next to me with his elbows on his knees, resting his chin in the palms of his hands.  This was a favorite position of Rembrandt's whenever he was thinking very hard.  He said to me  "Now you know why I dragged you up here-  this is my chance-  my great chance!  It came to me by accident.   The company of Captain Banning Cocq was going to have his portrait done.  Most of the men wanted the usual thing...soldiers and officers all grouped around a table with a couple of pewter plates filled with dead oysters and lots of wine bottles.  They wanted everyone looking very proud and brave, and very slightly the worse for haven eaten and drunk so much".

The question that had been put to Rembrandt was whether this sort of thing had already been done just a little to often.   Wasn't there some other way in which such a picture could be painted?

"Well",  said Rembrandt to his trusted friend,  "At first I was a little frightened of the idea.  For, I had never tried my hand at a large group of people before.  I told him that I would think it over for a few days and if I thought of something, I would let him know as to what it was.  Lord Pummerend said that he would be delighted and asked if I would come and see him when I was ready."

Rembrandt continued,  "So I set to work, but most of the sketches I did, I did not like at all and I threw them away.    And then suddenly it came to me!   As I had told you on the way up here, those regiments of volunteers don't mean so very much in our day.  As rule, they are just an excuse for a pleasant social gathering- an evening frolic.  But that is the case because we are living in a time of peace.  Probably, if there was another war, they would once again amount to something important.  I will be honest and as frank as I can be- there is a very definite premise hidden somewhere within the idea of an armed citizenry.  It is quite easy to poke fun at those pompous house painters, gin-distillers and fish-mongers, marching forth in plumes and feathers, toting heavy swords, lances and carrying gigantic arquebuses with powder-horns, as if they were going to drive the Turks out of Europe.  This is the case because we all know they are going to spend the greater part of the night throwing dice in the guardhouse and drinking beer, but this is only part of the story and by no means the most interesting part.   Those men are sons or grandsons of just such men who fought for our sovereignty.   There was something in them somewhere which made them rather fine and noble."

DR. Van Loon listened as Rembrandt's story progressed:  "Well, if it was there, I determined that I would find it and paint it.  And so I went to see my Lord Permerend one evening in his house on the Singel and he was most kind to me, even introducing me to his family.  Then we sat in his office and I took some paper and drew as I explained to him what I wanted to do.   I said I would paint him and his men just as they were leaving the arsenal for a turn of duty- everything in still a great disorder and motion.  Such as one fellow beating the alarm, some of the soldiers taking down their pike, others getting their guns ready, with little boys and girls getting out from underfoot (there are always a couple of children running around on such occasions) and the ever-present dog which is inevitably found at every parade, always in the midst of it.  And also, the one man who is the leader- a man who has himself in hand and knows exactly what he is doing, the one who is quietly going ahead because he realizes that the others will follow no matter what he does."

Rembrandt hesitated briefly, then continued,  "...I am not quite sure I am making myself clear.  Let me give you an example.  Remember how you told me that you liked my picture of Nicolas Tulp?   Well, in that case, I did not paint a learned doctor giving a lesson in anatomy.   I tried to make a statement which would mean something a little more general, a little more abstract, if you will allow me to use one of the words of your French friend, the Count.  I tried to paint "science", rather than a group of scientist. Likewise, just as here I have done  my best to give one an impression of "civic duty," rather than show a number of inconsequential citizens, doing their own particular duties. Do you follow what I am saying?

Although, DR. Van Loon indicated that he did follow him.  He was thinking to himself,  "I follow him over here, and when we leave, I will follow him back!  I follow him so well, that for a moment, I could say nothing in reply.  It is strange to me that anything which is not really perfectly true-to-life, leaves me exceedingly dumbfounded.  With me the scientist, that is the way it works. I grow dumb and cannot say a word."

Rembrandt, who was not the most tactful nor patient of men, was apt to be rather brusque and short-tempered, made a gesture which was intended to demonstrate to the doctor that he understood what had happened to him.  He then found an excuse to bid DR. Van Loon farewell by saying,   "It is getting late, I just heard the chimes play and I think the clock struck six times.  I shall run back home and see how poor Saskia (his young but ailing wife) is faring.  I am sorry that I have wasted so much of your time.  I cannot understand how you could fail to see what it is I have really done.  I had to do something really big, something tremendous, in order to make people see what I can accomplish when they give me free rein.  This picture will do it! I shall have more customers than ever before.  I shall do it all though this picture for, mark my words, it will make people talk."

Yes, Rembrandt was correct, this disproportionate, red and yellow toned-shadowy rendition of the armed citizen made people talk.  But, little did he foresee, as a result of this painting,  Rembrandt became the joke of Amsterdam!

I was inspired by my reading of this description in the writings of DR. Van Loon, regarding Rembrandt's conversation about the painting of the Night Watch.  Armed with this knowledge and the perfect confidence that there was a definite and hidden  "idea"  in the   "impression of civic duty"  of the Night Watch, I decided that I was going to discover Rembrandt's "trick" come hell or high water.

 I set the light in my room according to the manner which DR. Van Loon described and placed a picture of the Night Watch so that the figure in white(or yellow) seemed to march out of the painting.  I had a large book print of the Night Watch open to spread as a double-page print.  I positioned myself in exactly the way DR. Van Loon described Rembrandt as doing.  I held my chin in both hands, with my elbows on my knees and I started staring at the picture.  After about fifteen minutes of total concentration and uninterrupted staring I began to drift.  I felt as if I were falling asleep and had to fight to stay awake. I told myself, don't give up-it must show itself sooner or later.

I considered the possibility that it was the wrong lighting, so started brightening and dimming the lights.  That did not work.  So I went back to my original plan.  I reset the lights as directed and started staring at the picture once again. After about another half-hour went by, I was suddenly astonished by what happened.  I could not believe my eyes!  The men in the left hand corner of the painting started to move.  I looked more closely while I kept my gaze relaxed so that they would keep moving.  To my great surprise, I noticed that each man had a lady in hand and they were dancing.

The figure in red was really two people, a man and a women dancing cheek to cheek.  As I relaxed my focus even more and let the dance continue, I observed the Captain in black was moving forward, while the lady to his right was pulling up her skirt a bit and dancing facing him with her hand in his, while they danced.  As I looked at the lieutenant, his hand was on his dance partner's backside and her head lay on his shoulder.  To the right side of the painting were the band members:  one was playing the base-fiddle, the next blowing the flute and the next was the drummer.  As I looked more to the rear there were more people dancing and the theatrical flag bearer was not the flag bearer at all, but was singing the most beautiful song you could ever imagine.  This is exactly how I saw it and I realized how Rembrandt had been able to use his skill, described by the critic de Lairesse, with the "so-called red and yellow tones" with the "fatal example of shadows so hot that they seem actually aglow and of colors that appear to lie like liquid mud on the canvas".  The biggest problem with de Lairresse was that he had the same problem the experts have today,  " they do not use their eyes to see, and in wonderment, wonder how he could have made so many mistakes, being the great artist that he was supposed to have been.  A damn good thing that Picasso wasn't born in that era, they would have found a strong lenth of rope and strung him up!

The only reason it was so fatal for Rembrandt was he was so far ahead of his time.  He could see what no others could and was ridiculed for his perspectives.  Had his critics ever taken the time to study his "liquid mud" and color scheme along with the shadows on the canvas, they might have found the forerunner of the modern motion pictures.  I hope that others will now take the time to study this work until there is a day that they can also see the Night Watch dance, and quite possibly by the use of a little music and a strobe light with the right lighting, they might be able to have it dance for others !   Just imagine how many more it would attract to their Museum. 

OH! NO!  If they did this , it might damage the paint somehow?  People might see something that they cannot explain, That's terrible!!!!

Or would people see things they could not fully comprehend......

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