# The Night Watch by Rembrandt van Rijn

- Created: 1642
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Where to see it: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands — https://worldmuseumguide.org/museums/rijksmuseum/

The Night Watch is a large oil painting by Dutch Golden Age artist Rembrandt van Rijn, completed in 1642. It depicts a group portrait of a company of Amsterdam militia (city guards) led by Captain Frans Banninck Cocq and his lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch. The painting is the centrepiece of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and is one of the most celebrated examples of Dutch Golden Age painting. Despite its name, it depicts a daytime scene — the "night" in the title is a later misidentification caused by centuries of darkened varnish.

Updated 2026-07-18. Source: https://worldmuseumguide.org/artworks/the-night-watch/ — World Museum Guide.