The Netherlands: Rembrandt's Night Watch now online in 44.8 gigapixels

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Source: Rijkmuseum places most detailed ever Night Watch photo online - DutchNews.nl

Rijkmuseum places most detailed ever Night Watch photo online

May 13, 2020

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The glass chamber - Photo: Rijksmuseum


Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum has put the most detailed ever photograph of The Night Watch online, making it possible to zoom in on individual brushstrokes and even particles of pigment in the painting.

The giant photograph is made up of 528 exposures stitched together digitally and the final image is made up of 44.8 gigapixels, with a distance between each pixel of just 20 micrometers.

‘The Operation Night Watch research team use the very latest technologies and continually push the boundaries of what was thought possible,’ museum director Taco Dibbits said. ‘The photograph is a crucial source of information for the researchers, and online visitors can use it to admire Rembrandt’s masterpiece in minute detail.’

At the same time, work on Operation Night Watch resumes on Wednesday in the glass chamber in the museum, although restoration itself has now been delayed until next year. This is because the glassed off area is too small to allow more than two restorers to do the work, the museum said.

Work on the 17th century masterpiece started almost a year ago when it was taken out of its frame and subjected to the most thorough probe in its existence. The aim was to ‘create the most extensive database possible with today’s technology’ the museum’s head of science, Katrien Keune said at the time.

It is not clear when the project will be finished, museum staff told the ANP press agency. ‘We won’t rush things. This can only be done once and it has to be done well. We owe it to the world,’ the statement said.

[After the current lock down due to the corona virus] the Rijksmuseum will be opening its doors on June 1 but will only accommodate 2,000 visitors a day instead of the usual 10,000.


NOTE: The giant photograph can be navigated via mouse/pad.
 
UPDATE: Missing bits of Rembrandt's The Night Watch are recreated by AI - DutchNews.nl

Missing bits of Rembrandt’s The Night Watch are recreated by AI

June 23, 2021 - By Senay Boztas

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Night Watch reconstructed - Photo: Reinier Gerritsen

An armed guard strides out of the dark, ready to defend the city. For the first time in 300 years, the public can see Rembrandt’s dynamic painting of The Night Watch as the painter intended it, now that artificial intelligence has been used to reconstruct four missing panels (contains video clip (11:13 mins.) with English subtitles).

When Rembrandt created The Night Watch in 1642, as a commissioned group portrait of Amsterdam’s civic guard, it was both larger and had the main characters off-center. But in 1715, when the painting was moved from the organizations club house, the Kloveniersdoelen, to the city’s town hall, someone cropped it on all sides, putting the action at the center.

Now, as part of a massive restoration project, carried out in a specially built glass box, the Rijksmuseum is for the first time presenting the painting as it would have been, thanks to the powers of modern computing.

Famous

‘Some pieces were cut off, when in 1715 – around 70 years after it was painted – it was moved…when the marksmen were no longer charged with keeping the peace in the city and defending it against the Spanish,’ said museum director Taco Dibbits at a press conference. ‘It had become a hotel room. Rembrandt was famous, and it was thought too risky to let the painting hang there.

‘In the city hall (today the Royal Palace on the Dam), it needed to fit through [in between] two doors, it didn’t fit, and the movers got out their scissors, you might say, and snipped off strips. We don’t know why they trimmed the top and bottom, because the room was high enough… We know how large the strips were because copies were made of the Night Watch in those 70 years since it had been painted.’

With the help of one copy in particular, attributed to Gerrit Lundens and on long-term loan from the National Gallery of London, the Rijksmuseum has been able to recreate an impression of how the original painting looked in its entirety.

Robert Erdmann, senior scientist at the Rijksmuseum, said that with the help of artificial neural networks, a computer could be ‘trained’ to translate the missing panels into the style of Rembrandt.

‘The goal was to take the copy by Gerrit Lundens and use it as the basis for making the reconstruction,’ he said. ‘The copy is different in many ways. First it’s only 20% of full scale, second, it has a different style, and third it has a different palette.

‘The way the figures are painted is different, the geometry is a bit different and even the overall placement of figures is quite different. It would not be acceptable to simply take the Lundens copy and blow it up and print it out: it wouldn’t match geometrically, it wouldn’t have the right style or the right palette.

‘So we can use new technology, machine learning, artificial intelligence to help us achieve this task.’ Three different neural networks were developed so that the computer could ‘learn’ the differences in style between the Lundens copy and Rembrandt original, to teach it to translate the missing strips from the copy into the style and palette of The Night Watch.

These were then printed out, varnished, mounted on metal plates and set just slightly in front of the painting to give the impression of the completed work.

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Highlights in the reconstruction

Sense of space

‘We tried with a lot of effort to make sure the pieces would be believable but we wouldn’t want to trick our viewers into thinking it was the original Night Watch,’ he told DutchNews.nl. ‘But it’s really striking to see how different the painting feels with the missing parts attached. It completely changes the composition, it’s more spacious and the sense of movement is really enhanced.’

Dibbits said that the fact that the main characters now appear off-center in the reconstruction is vital to the sense of movement, and the dynamism of the painting.

‘In the original picture, the captain and lieutenant were just off-center,’ he said. ‘At a time where you couldn’t make a film, you needed to ensure that you painted a story, just before the climax or just after. For the Night Watch he chose the moment just before so that our brains start to wonder what will happen and where they are going, and he achieves a sense of movement.

Man with drum


‘Whoever snipped off pieces clearly thought about it a lot, decided they should be in the middle and neatly snipped off some bystanders but kept the man with a drum, cutting off his back. More dynamic has returned to the painting, they are walking forward, the troops are beginning to march.’

In addition, he added, we can see the railings of a bridge, making clear that they are marching across it, the painting can ‘breathe’ into the sky at the top and the shadows at the bottom, and we see the fuzzy figures of onlookers on the left hand side again.

While the computer may not be able to learn to paint like Rembrandt, in all his masterful characterization, it does have one advantage: since it can predict how aging looks, the newly restored missing sections were reproduced, complete with cracks.

Other sources:
Night Watch displayed for the first time in 300 years "as Rembrandt intended it"
For the first time in 300 years The Night Watch is complete again - Press releases - Press - Rijksmuseum
 
UPDATE: The Night Watch comes in: research into Rembrandt reports - DutchNews.nl

The Night Watch comes in: research into Rembrandt reports​

December 8, 2021 - By Senay Boztas

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The ‘calcium map’ shows the original sketch - Photo: Rijksmuseum

After more than 25 different scanning methods, two and a half years and a team of researchers working despite corona-virus behind a glass box, Operation Night Watch has reported its findings.

The Rijksmuseum has announced that its unprecedented research effort into Rembrandt’s Night Watch has shed important light on how Rembrandt worked, damage to the painting over the years, and how to restore it.

Using scanning techniques to create maps for minerals including iron, calcium, copper and arsenic, the Rijksmuseum has discovered a previously hidden sketch behind the painting which it says ‘allows us to look over the artist’s shoulder’ and understand his confidence in sketching directly onto the canvas.

But the research also revealed that troubling deformations in the top left of the painting were probably caused during 2003 to 2013, when it was moved into the Philips Wing during renovations of the dilapidated building.

Taco Dibbits, director of the Rijksmuseum, said in a press conference on Wednesday, that the research had borne important fruit. ‘The discovery of the sketch represents a breakthrough in this research,’ he said.

‘We always suspected Rembrandt must have made a sketch on the canvas before embarking on this incredibly complex composition, but we didn’t have the evidence. We are currently able to look beneath the surface of the paint better than ever before and now we have the proof, giving us a real understanding for the first time of how the painting was made…We have discovered the genesis of The Night Watch.’

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Deformations in The Night Watch - Photo: Rijksmuseum

Deformations


Comparing images of the sketch behind the painting and the surface, for instance, researchers found that Rembrandt originally made feathers for militiaman Claes van Cruijsbergen’s helmet, but then painted them over, adjusted the leg position of another character and originally painted a central sword and multiple spears above the company. His massive 1642 masterpiece shows civic guardsmen marching out to defend the city, and was considered daringly dynamic for its time.

Petria Noble, head of paintings conservation at the Rijksmuseum, said that the museum will immediately begin a two to three month restoration to attempt to fix deformations in one corner, using weights to help flatten the painting. ‘This will be a structural treatment – you saw very clearly the deformations, which are quite pronounced in the upper left corner,’ she said.

‘The painting will be taken off its current wooden stretcher [which] we strongly feel is contributing to the problem because it reacts differently to the canvas. It will then be put onto a new strainer, a non-reactive material that we feel will be much more stable. This is very important for the long-term preservation of the painting.’

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A dog that appears faded - Photo: Rijksmuseum

The research, which included taking more than 12,500 photos at extremely high resolution, also revealed that a dog which appeared to be fading has changed in appearance due to attrition in the top layers of paint, revealing the light-colored sketch behind. This attrition – possibly partly caused by previous treatments – is also visible in the disappearance of a cloud of smoke, which was recorded in a contemporary copy of The Night Watch attributed to Gerrit Lundens.

Meanwhile, the research has given insights into how certain colors such as a ‘smalt’ blue derived from blue cobalt-based glass have faded, while old varnish layers and retouching have also discolored – in one instance, giving a militiaman’s face the appearance of ‘a rash’. There are also minuscule white spots, known as lead soaps, which are common to 17th century paintings, and the museum will decide whether or not to conduct restoration on areas such as the face of the main figure, Frans Banninck Cocq. A symposium on Wednesday is discussing the findings in more detail.

Noble added: ‘An all-encompassing approach such as this would have been impossible even a few years ago, which means Operation Night Watch is setting a new standard for the study of painting. All these discoveries now prompt us to look at Rembrandt’s other paintings with different eyes – we now know what we should be looking for.’

Other news: Dutch State to allocate up to €150 million to acquire Rembrandt's Standard Bearer

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A portion of the 1636 painting The Standard Bearer by Rembrandt van Rijn - Source: Wikimedia Commons - License: Public Domain

Wednesday, December 8, 2021 - 13:01
Dutch State to allocate up to €150 million to acquire Rembrandt's Standard Bearer


The Dutch State is prepared to allocate up to 150 million euros to acquire a painting by Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn. The 1636 work known as De Vaandeldrager, or "The Standard Bearer" in English, is expected to be sold off by the Rothschild family, which has had the work in its possession since Jacob James de Rothschild purchased it in the 1840's for £840 at Christie's in London.

Rijksmuseum director Taco Dibbits said on Tuesday that the museum was prepared to "go to extremes" to acquire the work when it hits the market. A day later, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science said it has political support to earmark 150 million euros to that end.

Unlike the 2015 deal which saw the Netherlands eventually join with France in a 160 million euro bid to acquire two Rembrandt portraits, the Dutch government is not working with France this time. The French government blocked an export license for the Standard Bearer in 2019 to give the Louvre a 30-month window to put together the necessary funds to acquire it from the Rothschild collection. At the time, the Rijksmuseum had expressed its interest in making the purchase. Newswire AFP reported on Tuesday that the French State had given up on its hope of keeping the painting in France.

The Dutch State's contribution, will be supported by 15 million euros put forward by the Rembrandt Association. The Rijksmuseum Fund is also readying 10 million euros to contribute to the effort. Of the Dutch government's contribution, 19 million is part of the purchase fund set aside for the national museum.

The painting is said to be worth 165 million euros. Dibbits thinks that at least ten other serious buyers are also on the horizon.

Produced when he was 30 years old, the painting is a self-portrait where Rembrandt depicted himself as a standard-bearer leading the way in the Eighty Years' War. It represents the charge against Spanish rule, which was not to conclude until 1648 when the Netherlands became an independent country. The Cabinet said it was the breakthrough piece that eventually led to the creation of his most famous work, The Night Watch, which was commissioned in 1642.

Dibbits called the work the most important Rembrandt piece in a private collection, and it is in the top ten works of art he created. "For generations we have dreamed of returning De Vaandeldrager to our country. Now that the opportunity will present itself, we are joining forces to acquire this Rembrandt for the Netherlands for eternity," he said in a government issued press release on Wednesday. "The quality and the fact that this painting marks Rembrandt's artistic breakthrough makes it an unparalleled work by the master." He added that it marks the moment that, "Rembrandt became Rembrandt!"

"A purchase like this matters for now and for generations to come. The Rembrandt Association has been helping to realize dream purchases for 138 years. This will be a pinnacle of its existence, with the highest contribution ever pledged," said Fusien Bijl de Vroe, the director of the Rembrandt Association.

If the Netherlands is successful, it will become the 45th Rembrandt painting in possession in the Netherlands, 22 of which are currently held by the Rijksmuseum. Rembrandt created about 340 paintings in total.

"With the purchase of this painting, a missing link in the overview of Rembrandt's life and his development as an artist can be added to the Dutch collection," said Minister Ingrid van Engelshoven in a statement about the painting.

The Standard Bearer was loaned to the Rijksmuseum for an exhibit in 2019. If the acquisition is successful, it will tour around the country for people in all provinces to view.
 
UPDATE: New ultra high-resolution photo (717 Giga-pixel) has been published online which took over three years to make.

Source (in Dutch): Nachtwachtfoto van Rijksmuseum is ‘meest gedetailleerde ooit’ van een kunstwerk

Rijksmuseum's Night Watch photo is 'most detailed ever' of a work of art

Virtual microscope The photograph of The Night Watch has 717 billion pixels. The ultra-sharp photo will be used in the restoration process of the world-famous painting, which will begin on January 19.

Wafa Al Ali - January 3, 2022 at 5:05 pm

Ever seen a picture that can fit about 71,700 average-sized photos? Since Monday, it has become possible to admire The Night Watch in all its glory in front of a phone or computer screen. The research team of Operation Night Watch has created "an extremely detailed" photograph of the painting, the Rijksmuseum wrote Monday [press release in English]. The photo has a whopping 717 billion pixels, making it the largest and most detailed photo ever taken of a work of art.

According to Rob Erdmann, senior scientist at the Rijksmuseum, the ultra-sharp photograph is an indispensable factor in the restoration process, which will begin on January 19. The research team knew from the start that the photo had to be taken, even though "many people thought it was impossible." Erdmann says that it is a nice bonus that the general public can also enjoy the painting on a "microscopic level." Art historians can use the ultra-sharp photograph to understand how Rembrandt painted. "In this way, everyone can experience the mystery of his mastery," says the researcher.

But how does one take such a sharp and detailed photograph, which is supposed to serve as a virtual microscope?

Erdmann, also a professor of conservation and restoration at the University of Amsterdam, says he spent two years working on the software that can process the photograph. A specially designed robot took pictures of the painting for three months in the summer of 2020. The robot can make five different movements, such as left to right, up to down, closer and further away, and two types of circular movements. Taking the photos is very precarious work, Erdmann says. There were 8,439 photographs of The Night Watch, each about 5.5 by 4.1 centimeters [2.17 x 1.61 inches] in size. To do that, the robot got very close to the painting - it took pictures about 13 centimeters away from the painting.

Museum Camera

The 8,439 photos were shot with a 100-megapixel Hasselblad camera, which has a retail value of nearly 50,000 euros. According to the senior researcher, this is a camera used by many other museums. The Hasselblad was "a natural choice" for this project because the lens allows for the least amount of distortion - caused by light and relief. Artificial intelligence ensures that the distortion that is eventually left behind takes up only 0.02 pixels. Next, an algorithm designed by Erdmann assembled the 8,439 photos. That assembly work took six months.

The gigantic photo became a file of no less than 5.6 terabytes (5,600 gigabytes). The reason that the Rijksmuseum website is still up and running is that only a limited number of pixels are visible on screen. Only when the user zooms in on the painting will the relevant section be loaded in full resolution. An average screen can handle about 4 million pixels, according to Erdmann. So it's a matter of dividing the whole picture into small squares that together are no more than 4 million pixels. Doesn't matter how far you zoom in or what exactly you are looking at: a certain number of million pixels are always displayed.

In the summer of 2019, the Rijksmuseum began "Operation Night Watch," the largest and most comprehensive investigation of Rembrandt's world-famous militia painting. The research phase using the most advanced techniques has now been completed. The restoration phase will begin on January 19. The ultra-sharp photograph enables the research team to study the painting more closely, for example for similarities in pigment particles. The Rijksmuseum says that thanks to the photograph, aging processes in the painting can also be better tracked.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Other coverage in English:
Rijksmuseum claims new, ultra-detailed Night Watch photo is the world’s largest
Rijksmuseum publishes Night Watch photo made up of 717 gigapixels - DutchNews.nl

Other coverage in Dutch:
Rijksmuseum zet meest gedetailleerde foto ooit van De Nachtwacht online
Gedetailleerde foto van de Nachtwacht al 85.000 keer bekeken
 
Source (Dutch only): Nachtwacht na 'facelift' van twee maanden weer overeind

Night Watch resurrected after two-month 'facelift'

ANP Productions - 45 min ago

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© ANP Night Watch resurrected after two-month 'facelift'

AMSTERDAM (ANP) - Rembrandt's Night Watch is back on its feet. As of Wednesday, visitors to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam can see the front again, after the crown jewel of the art temple had been lying on its belly for two months to, among other things, eliminate the bulges in the painting. This had to be done urgently, because bulges can cause the paint to crack. They were fixed by putting weights on them. A new system should prevent future bulges.

The painting was removed from the old wooden frame, which required the removal of over five hundred nails. An aluminum frame has taken its place. The support cloth that was applied to Rembrandt's original canvas in 1975 is larger than the painting itself, and its "flaps" could be folded around the aluminum frame. Special springs were also installed between the frame and the canvas. On the basis of these springs it can be continuously measured whether there is any movement in the painting. The springs can then be adjusted so that the work of art is stabilized again.

An aluminum frame was chosen because it does not shrink or expand as a wooden frame does. The whole structure is also dozens of kilos lighter, because wood is much heavier. The wooden frame was over 100 kilos, the aluminum one only 64.

The Rijksmuseum management must now decide whether the operation to preserve the Night Watch in all its glory for future generations will now be concluded or whether, for example, the varnish layer will also have to be replaced. This has advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that the world-famous artwork by our greatest master will remain in optimal condition for a very long time. The disadvantages are that the painting will not be properly visible for a long time and that the intervention also involves (small) risks. The decision will be made in about two months. But until then, the Night Watch can once again be admired by everyone.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
 
Source (Dutch only): ‘Een schilderij als De Nachtwacht is een klein chemisch fabriekje’

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Katrien Keune: "I was fascinated by materials as a twelve-year-old" - Photo by Roger Cremers

Interview
'A painting like The Night Watch is a small chemical factory'

Katrien Keune | professor of molecular spectroscopy
Numerous chemical processes take place in the paint layer of a painting. This is also evident in the restoration of The Night Watch.

Anne van Kessel - May 8, 2022 at 3:00 PM

'When I was 8, I was allowed to fill my father's jars of acrylic paint at his work,' says Katrien Keune in a room in the Rijksmuseum's studio building. Further on, two restorers are examining The Standard-bearer, the painting by Rembrandt that is being prepared for its tour through the Netherlands. Keune's father worked as a chemist at the Rietveld Academy and the Jan van Eyck Academy. "That made a big impression. Those smells of all the acrylics. The big rooms. The atmosphere at the academy was instilled in me at a young age and I found it inspiring."

Four years later, she decided she wanted to study art with chemistry knowledge. "I was fascinated with materials as a twelve-year-old. Art is a wonderful communication tool to make materials deliver a message, it speaks to your feelings. I wanted to unravel those materials. What is paint? How does color come about?"

In 2019, she became head of natural science research at the Rijksmuseum. She leads part of Operation Night Watch; the extensive research on this painting. She also works as a researcher at the University of Amsterdam. May 11, she will pronounce her inaugural address there as extraordinary professor of molecular spectroscopy.

What is it like to work on The Night Watch?

"Super fun! It's a dream come true, it's such an iconic piece. We work on it with so many different scientists, conservators and curators. The whole museum is dealing with it."

"
I get all excited about problems like this


What made it so much fun?

"The longer you work on a painting, the more you understand it. You really develop a bond with it. By posting the painting in high resolution on the website, we hope the public can develop that connection as well."

You figured out the cause of the white haze on the little dog in the lower right corner of the painting.

"We initially thought that the discoloration of the dog was the result of chemical reactions in the paint. We discovered by taking a minuscule paint sample, among other things, that this is not the only cause. We embed those paint samples in resin so that we could look at the paint cross sections with various microscopic techniques. The white haze turns out to be due in part to wear and tear on the paint. The top layers are gone so you are now looking at Rembrandt's light sketch.

"I get all excited about this kind of problems because it can give so much insight. A painting is a small chemical factory in which all kinds of reactions take place. This is a wonderful world! If you understand what reactions occur and why a painting looks the way it does, you can also reason back and determine what a painting went through."

"
Rembrandt's palette was much more nuanced and colorful than we thought


Do you have an example of that?

"In the case of the whitish haze, one of the things we found was a component of palmitate. That forms a kind of crust on the painting. That consists of lead, potassium and sulfur. Lead comes from pigments like white lead or red lead, potassium we often find in pigments like smalt and red lacquer. But that sulfur? That could come from the plaster, but we see it in many paintings. So I'm convinced that it came from the environment and precipitated on the surface. In the 18th and 19th centuries, galleries were heated with coal furnaces. That burning released sulfur."

What else did you find striking?

"Everyone always thinks The Night Watch was painted very dark, because that's how it looks now. But Rembrandt's palette was much more nuanced and colorful than we thought. A blue pigment like smalt gets progressively browner over the years.

"An example of this richness of color can still be seen on Van Ruytenburch's jacket. The embroidery was painted with arsenic, we discovered. We only know that from still lifes and had never seen it on Rembrandt. Now we want to know how he used it and in what form. We're investigating that in the lab."

Will the painting still get darker after 380 years?

"That's an important question. You hope it will stagnate at some point. When you look at the cross-sections of the red lacquer, I'm impressed by how well it's been preserved. That does give me confidence that it has stabilized. To investigate that, we accelerate these kinds of decay processes in laboratories."

Keune and colleagues use techniques from different fields. For example, optical coherence tomography. Ophthalmologists use that to make 3D images of the retina to detect abnormalities. The Rijksmuseum uses it to image the height differences in the layers under the varnish surface to find out how Rembrandt created depth. Another example is reflectance imaging spectroscopy to determine which pigments and binders Rembrandt used. NASA uses that technique to photograph and chemically identify minerals on Mars.

"
At one micrometer, a certain reaction may be taking place and ten micrometers away, something completely different may be happening


What techniques from the art world end up in other fields?

"Macro X-ray fluorescence scanning, or macro-XRF, was developed for the art world to investigate which chemical elements are present in used paint. That technique is now used in forensics, for example, to reveal biological traces such as blood and semen and gunshot residue on clothing."

After your research, the restoration of The Night Watch will begin. What can be seen from previous restorations?

"In the 19th century, they put paintings like The Night Watch in a chest, along with all kinds of cloths soaked in alcohol. They then let that evaporate overnight to regenerate the varnish layer; a kind of rejuvenation cure. But the effect wore off, so they used it more and more often. I think they extracted a lot from the painting with that procedure, such as binder. It could be one of the reasons why that little dog is so blurry now. I would like to investigate that further. We are now looking at how you can use a minimal amount of alcohol to swell only the varnish layer so that no fatty acids or metal ions migrate from the layers underneath. We need to understand what you are doing to a material."

May 11, you will be delivering your inaugural lecture. What are your plans?

"Until now we saw paint as a homogeneous layer, but it is a heterogeneous environment in which different reactions are at play. On one micrometer a certain reaction can take place and ten micrometers away something completely different can happen resulting in two different effects on the painting. This heterogeneity is an unexplored area and that also brings me back to my childhood fascination. A material is not one thing. Under the surface, so much is happening."

-------------------------------------------------------
Resume: Art and Chemistry

Katrien Keune (45) studied chemistry at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and received her PhD there in 2005 on the interaction between pigment and binder in oil paint. After her PhD she did postdoctoral research at both physics institute Amolf and the National Gallery in London. In 2015, she joined the Rijkmuseum.


Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
 
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New Rembrandt uncovered in archives of Hague museum​



The oil sketch of Raising Jesus on the Cross was bought by Abraham Bredius, an art historian whose collection is the basis of the Bredius Museum

The oil sketch of Raising Jesus on the Cross was bought by Abraham Bredius, an art historian whose collection is the basis of the Bredius Museum
ALAMY

A painting that had been dismissed as an imitator’s copy of a work by the Dutch old master Rembrandt has been discovered in the archives of a museum in the Hague.
The discovery that the oil sketch Raising Jesus on the Cross was a genuine painting by Rembrandt van Rijn was made by Jeroen Giltaij, an expert art curator.

About the painting itself :

Rembrandt’s Raising of the Cross (c.1633)​

This painting of Rembrandt crucifying Christ is an excellent example of the alternative way to read art, not viewing it as an illustration but as poetry. To call it The Raising of the Cross, as both the patron and Rembrandt would have publicly, is to describe its lowest common denominator, as an illustration of the Bible.1 Take it as a general rule, though, great masters never illustrate. Think of it instead through Rembrandt’s viewpoint as The Artist Struggles to Depict “The Crucifixion”. Rembrandt is the spot-lit figure in the beret and, accompanied by studio assistants or other representations of himself, he struggles to raise his work of art “The Crucifixion”.2 The scene is a visual metaphor for the struggle in his own mind to create his painting and art’s archetypal subject is not The Raising of the Cross but The Crucifixion. [For a very similar example, see "The Craftsman's Christ".]

Overseeing "the studio scene" is a white-turbaned commander who also resembles self-portraits by Rembrandt. Positioned behind the Crucifixion scene, he seems to both look out of the painting and observe the action. However, as another alter ego of Rembrandt, he is not looking out at us but into the mirror of his own mind. His historically inappropriate turban is also significant because artists often wore turbans in the studio to keep paint off their hair and sometimes, like Jan van Eyck, donned them in their self-portraits too.

One last observation is that the lighting is central to Rembrandt's meaning. Not only does the light on Christ separate the two levels of reality, the studio and the work of art, but also alludes to the spiritual journey that Christ’s life is a guide for. The spectator’s viewpoint (Rembrandt’s really) beyond the dark of the freshly dug grave suggests that we too must go from the darkness of our current life to the light of the next, once we reach, dead or alive, union with the divine and find the Christ within ourselves. It can be a struggle to get there.
 
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