Which artist painted The Night Watch?

Which artist painted The Night Watch? Rembrandt painted The Night Watch, completed in 1642 during the Dutch Golden Age. Its formal title is Militia Company of District II under the Command of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq, and it portrays an Amsterdam civic militia preparing to move out.

The enormous oil painting is famous for turning a conventional group portrait into a lively, theatrical scene. Captain Cocq wears black with a red sash, while his lieutenant, Willem van Ruytenburch, wears yellow. Rembrandt used movement, gestures, overlapping figures, and dramatic illumination to guide the viewer through the crowded composition.

Despite its popular name, the painting does not actually depict a night scene. Darkened varnish and accumulated grime helped create that impression, and the title became established in the eighteenth century. The work was later trimmed on all four sides, reducing its original dimensions. It is displayed at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, though it belongs to the Amsterdam Museum.