Dutch Golden Age · 1642
The Night Watch
The Night Watch (1642) by Rembrandt. Its palette is led by warm black (#120f07, 48%) and bistre (#34230d, 30%), with accents of light amber and pale gold. Overall the canvas is dark, muted and warm.
Color notes
Despite its name this is a daytime scene: darkened varnish made it look like night, which gave it its nickname.
Rembrandt worked from a limited, mostly earthy palette: ochres, umbers, lead white and black, warmed with vermilion and red lakes, often laid on thickly in the highlights.
Palette
- #120f07 MG 220 warm black 47.8% of canvas
- #34230d MG 219 bistre 30.4% of canvas
- #644115 MG 168 dark amber brown 12.0% of canvas
- #926624 MG 178 rich orange ochre 5.6% of canvas
- #b79149 MG 033 light amber 3.2% of canvas
- #e0c895 MG 036 pale gold 0.9% of canvas
Color families
Black 53%, Brown 42%, Yellow 4%, Orange 0%, Red 0%
Measurements
Composition
56% of the visual weight is in the right half, 68% in the lower half. Symmetry 0.49 (how closely its shapes and edges mirror each other). 36% of the canvas is calm space. Half of the detail sits in 24% of the canvas. Measured from the image, not a rule the painter followed.
Details
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More by Rembrandt
- The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, 1632
- The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, 1633
- Belshazzar's Feast, 1636
- The Jewish Bride, c. 1667
- Return of the Prodigal Son, 1668