1715 · four bands deleted
Why was La Ronde de nuit cut out?
The painting was too large for its new location at Amsterdam City Hall. The pieces have disappeared, but an old copy helps us understand what Rembrandt actually composed.
Immediate response
In 1715, the canvas was recut to enter between two doors of the new town hall.The Night Watch had been painted for the great hall of the Kloveniersdoelen, seat of the arquebusiers. When it was transferred to Amsterdam City Hall - the current Royal Palace on Dam Square - its dimensions were no longer suitable. There the solution chosen was radical: cut strips on all four sides.
The largest piece was removed on the left. The fragments were never found. What we see today is therefore Rembrandt's original painting, but in a reduced framing which modifies its balance.
The four sides
How much canvas has disappeared?
For its 2021 reconstruction, the Rijksmuseum calculated the missing tapes from the old copy attributed to Gerrit Lundens. These values describe the model used by Operation Night Watch.
Format reconstructed by the project: approximately 393.1 × 507.4 cm. These reconstructed panels give the probable scale and framing; they are not fragments of Rembrandt's hand.
Two images, two balances
In the current table, the couple formed by Frans Banninck Cocq and Willem van Ruytenburch almost occupies the middle. In the full copy, it is located clearly to the right of the center. The large space on the left lets the company enter the field and makes walking more oblique.
The cutout therefore unintentionally gave the painting a more frontal and symmetrical appearance. Rembrandt had conceived a more unstable movement: the leaders advanced towards a free space, while the crowd spread out behind them.
What is really missing
Characters, balustrade, space and rhythm
Two men standing behind a balustrade disappear entirely from the current canvas.
A small figure near them is also lost, reducing the variety of the left edge.
This horizontal formed a threshold and visually retained the secondary figures.
The copy shows a wider portion of the instrument and more space around the drum.
The top gave more breath to the flag, spades and dark architecture.
The low band extended the walk and slightly separated the figures from the edge.
The decisive proof
Why is Gerrit Lundens' copy reliable?
This small painting on wood was made shortly after 1642, probably between 1642 and 1655, before the cutting of 1715. It is attributed to Gerrit Lundens and was probably commissioned by Captain Frans Banninck Cocq himself.
Its family provenance reinforces its documentary importance. A watercolor preserved in Banninck Cocq's album also derives from this composition. The copy does not reproduce every touch of Rembrandt, but it records the format, positions and several details that have now disappeared.
In particular, it shows the two men and the child on the far left, more drums on the right and a larger composition. However, it does not display the title block, probably added later to the original.
Document, not substitute: Lundens tells us about the lost framing, but its color and brush do not exactly restore Rembrandt's material.
A painting adapted to architecture
Why not change its location?
At the beginning of the 18th century, the priority was not to preserve a work in its exact material condition according to current standards. The painting was to serve as a new official space. City Hall had its own doors, walls and circulation areas; The Night Watch had to adapt to it.
This decision seems shocking today because the work has become a global icon. In 1715, it remained a large civic portrait belonging to the city. The interventions on the format, the frames and the hangings were more common than they would be in a contemporary museum.
There is no evidence that officials wanted to mutilate Rembrandt or erase certain characters. The documented reason is pragmatic: to make the canvas compatible with its new location.
2021 · Operation Night Watch
How were the parts rebuilt?
The Rijksmuseum team first photographed and studied Lundens' copy. Differences in format, distortion and style between the small panel and the large canvas had to be corrected.
Neural networks were trained to bring the copy closer to Rembrandt's technique and colors. The missing areas were then enlarged and simulated as printed images, temporarily mounted around the original.
The result made it possible to physically evaluate the old composition: more speed, wider entry from the left and a main duo pushed to the right.
What reconstruction is not
Added panels do not replace lost pieces
Reconstruction is a research and mediation tool. It shows the most likely general impression, but it does not claim to recover the exact touch, the glazes or every detail that has disappeared.
Timeline
From the original format to the reconstruction
Deepen The Night Watch
Analysis, characters and reproduction
Compare the lost framing with the full analysis, character guide and reproduction available in the Rembrandt collection.
Frequently asked questions
lost Games FAQ
Why was La Ronde de nuit cut out?
To enter between two gates of Amsterdam City Hall when it was transferred in 1715. The reason was practical, linked to the dimensions of the new location.
Who cut out the painting?
The sources explain the decision and the municipal context, but do not give the certain name of the person who actually handled the tool.
Which parts have been deleted?
Strips were removed on all four sides: approximately 64.4 cm on the left, 7 cm on the right, 23.3 cm at the top and 11.3 cm at the bottom according to the reconstruction of the Rijksmuseum.
Which characters have disappeared?
Two men and a child on the far left, behind a railing, are no longer featured on the current original.
Have the cut pieces been found?
No. No authentic fragments from these four bands have been identified.
How do we know the original composition?
Thanks to a small copy on wood attributed to Gerrit Lundens, made before 1715 and probably commissioned by Banninck Cocq.
Is artificial intelligence reconstruction by Rembrandt?
No. This is a printed simulation based on the old copy and trained to approximate Rembrandt's appearance. Panels are study tools.
Will the Rijksmuseum permanently add the parts?
No. The museum clarified that the reconstructed elements would not be incorporated into the actual restoration of the painting.
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