A History of European Art

(Steven Felgate) #1

Frans Banning Coq. The popular title is misleading; the scene does not take
place at night. The name was given to the painting at the end of the 18th
century, when the only duties that militias had were night patrols. By that
time, the picture was also obscured under layers of grime and discolored
varnish; it appeared much darker than it is today.


But it is also true that there is a marked darkness in much of this painting.
It is the darkness that is one-half of Rembrandt’s chiaroscuro—his “light-
dark” manner of painting—which was not only a development from
Caravaggio’s innovations at the beginning of the century but fully understood
by contemporaries as Rembrandt’s usual style. The militiamen may not
be emerging from beneath the great arch, though it is easy to imagine that
they are. None are beyond it, though some may be under it. The arch is a
symbol of the city that had to be guarded; the gates were the crucial points
for defense. But this gate did not exist; it is Rembrandt’s invention, which
must have surprised and thrilled both the militia company and other citizens
who saw the completed painting. Note the captain and his lieutenant; their
gestures give the painting life and animation.


The viewer cannot always determine who is and who is not a member of the
company. The members would have paid for the portrait equally, but who
are the other people shown, and who decided how and where the members
were portrayed? The little girl with the fowl, for example, seems to have
the features of Rembrandt’s wife. There is no record of any member of the
company complaining that he was slighted by his placement in the painting,
although a few critics complained that Rembrandt was more interested in his
idea, his painting, than in the portraits for which he was commissioned.


Our next painting is Bathsheba (1654). According to the Old Testament,
from the roof of his palace, King David saw the beautiful Bathsheba bathing
and desired her. Her husband, Uriah, was away, serving in David’s army;
thus, the king summoned Bathsheba to his palace and made love to her.
Later, when she became pregnant, he ordered that Uriah be stationed on the
front line, where he was killed. David then married Bathsheba. Rembrandt
shows Bathsheba with her maid, who attends to her feet. She holds a letter,
which is probably the summons sent to her by David. Her face seems to
contain a foreknowledge of everything that will follow from this command.

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