What is Rembrandt’s best-known group portrait of Amsterdam’s civic militia called?

Rembrandt’s best-known group portrait of Amsterdam’s civic militia is called The Night Watch.

Its formal title is The Militia Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch. The popular title is shorter and more memorable, but it can mislead viewers because the dark appearance results largely from aged varnish and dirt rather than a clearly nocturnal setting.

Rembrandt broke with the static arrangement common in many group portraits. Instead of lining every member up evenly, he created a crowded, theatrical scene filled with movement, overlapping figures, bright accents, and directional gestures.

The painting was made for the Kloveniersdoelen, a meeting place for Amsterdam’s civic guard. It is now in the Rijksmuseum, where conservation work has allowed specialists and visitors to study its changing surface and complex composition.