Artists like Rembrandt and Leonardo da Vinci, known for their timeless artworks, occasionally surprise us with new revelations, even after centuries. “The Night Watch,” a monumental masterpiece by Rembrandt from the 17th century, recently revealed a secret that had been concealed for over 380 years.
This painting, depicting Dutch civilian soldiers preparing to defend their city, is renowned for Rembrandt’s mastery of light and shadow. While art experts knew that hidden details and the guardsmen’s bodies were concealed in the dark areas of the painting, a groundbreaking new study exposed another unexpected element.
Conservators utilized X-ray technology to look beneath the layers of paint and varnish on “The Night Watch.” This evaluation, the first of its kind in the painting’s nearly 400-year history, combined X-rays, spectroscopy of a paint sample, and 3D digital reconstructions. The revelation was surprising: a layer of lead beneath the paint.
This discovery, detailed in the journal Science Advances, was unprecedented in Rembrandt’s art. Typically, artists, including Rembrandt, used a layer of glue to stiffen the canvas before applying the “ground layer” – a base coat of the underlying pigment. However, “The Night Watch” deviates from this norm, featuring a layer of lead. It is suggested that artists sometimes used a lead-saturated layer to enhance canvas protection.
The researchers speculate that after the completion of the painting in 1642, it hung in Amsterdam’s Kloveniersdoelen – a musketeers’ shooting range – making it susceptible to potential damage from moisture. This new insight into Rembrandt’s technique adds another layer of complexity to the understanding of his artistic methods and the historical context in which his masterpieces were created.
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