In what year did Rembrandt finish “The Night Watch”? He finished it in 1642.
Rembrandt van Rijn completed the painting at the height of the Dutch Golden Age. Its formal title is “Militia Company of District II under the Command of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq,” and it depicts an Amsterdam civic militia company moving into action. The dramatic lighting, gestures, and overlapping figures transformed what could have been a static group portrait into a theatrical scene.
The familiar title “The Night Watch” is misleading. The painting is not necessarily set at night; darkened varnish and accumulated dirt helped create that impression. Nor does it show a routine nighttime patrol. The work was commissioned around 1639 and originally hung in the Kloveniersdoelen, a meeting hall for musketeers.
In 1715, officials trimmed the canvas on all four sides to fit a new location in Amsterdam’s town hall. The Rijksmuseum now displays it prominently in Amsterdam, while ownership remains with the Amsterdam Museum.