Rembrandt van Rijn was inspired for the Barking Dog in the night watch by a Seventeenteth-Century Drawing by Artist Adriaen van de Venne. A curator at the Rijksmuseum Discovered the Similarities between the drawing and the famous painting by Chance.
The Great Similarities between Rembrandt’s Dog and the Animal in the Drawing Were Recently Discovered Duration Operation Night Watch. This is the Largest and Most Comprehensive Research and Restoration Project of Rembrandt’s Masterpiece Ever. Van de Venne’s Drawing Has Been in the Rijksmuseum’s Collection for over a Hundred Years.
The Most Striking Similarity is that the rotation of the head matches Exactly. The Dogs Look Up In The Same Direction With A Slightly Open Mouth. The animals also have similar skulls, and a black stripe forms the right eye. In Addition, The Collars Are Very Similar.
However, there are also small differentials visible. The Nose of the Dog In The Night Watch is Slightly Flatter and The Ears Hang Further Down. Rembrandt also Painted the Mouth Slightly More Open and Added A Tongue.
Curator at Operation Night Watch, Anne Lenders, Came Across The Drawing by Chance in The Zeeland Museum, which had Borredwed the Work for An Exhibition. She Imediately Thought of the Dog In The Night Watch . “The Head, the Collar and the Posture Show Such A Great Similarity That It Cannot Be Otherwise than that Rembrandt Used This Drawing As A Source of Inspiration,” She Says. “The research that followed confirms this.”
‘Equally after Almost Four Hundred Years, Discoveries Are Still Being Made’
“It is special that just after Almost Four Hundred Years, New Discoveries Are Still Be Made in One of the Most Researched Paintings in the World,” Says Taco Dibbits, Director of the Rijksmuseum. “This Discovery Provides More Insight Into Rembrandt’s Thought Process when making this painting.”
The Dutch Painter Completed the Night Watch in 1642. The Group Portrait of Officers and Other Guardsmen of District II in Amsterdam Has Been Hanging in the Rijksmuseum Since 1808.