2/11/2015

NightWatchidentitiesrevealed

2009-04-07: Night Watch identities revealed

Night Watch
RembrandtsNightWatchisthemostfamouspaintingoftheRijksmuseuminAmsterdam.Itisan
appropriateplaceforthisworkofart,asthepeoplethatRembrandtpaintedwereallAmsterdamcitizen.
Wehavealwaysknownwhothemilitiamenare.Thereisashieldwithalistofeighteennamesonthe
canvas.Thatshieldwasaddedlater,around1715,upontherequestofthecompanyitself.
Therewasjustoneproblemwiththeexceptionofthekeyfigures,wedidnotknowwhowaswho.That
problemhasnowbeensolved.Wecanassociatethenameswiththefiguresonthecanvas.

ScaleddownversionofimagethatputsnamestotheadultfacesintheNightWatch.Linktooriginal
PDFwithhiresversionattheend.

Amsterdam citizens
Amsterdam aristocrats
Lastyear,BasDudokvanHeel(b.1938)presentedthebookVanAmsterdamseburgerstoEuropese
aristocraten(FromAmsterdamcitizenstoEuropeanaristocrats).Manyhadlookedforwardtothis
publicationofapproximatelythousandpages.Formanyyearsalready,rumourscirculatedthatDudok
vanHeelwasabletoshowthatallcitizensofimportancein17thCenturyAmsterdamwererelatedto
eachother.
important
http://www.tamurajones.net/NightWatchIdentitiesRevealed.xhtml

1/3

2/11/2015

NightWatchidentitiesrevealed

Thisbookwasdeemedsoimportant,thatGenealogie,thequarterlymagazineoftheCentralBureauof
Genealogy,spentfourofitsonlyfortypagesonit,notintheleastbecauseitwaspublishedtocelebrate
the125thbirthdayoftheKoninklijkGenootschapvoorGeslachtenWapenkunde(RoyalSocietyfor
FamilyandCoatsofArms),foundedin1883.
Claes Heijn Claeszn
ThecoreofthatbookisthelineageofClaesHeijnClaeszn,wholivedaround1400,intothemiddleof
the19thcentury.DudokvanHeelhasmanydecadesofexperienceresearchingoriginalrecordsas
archivistoftheGemeenteArchiefAmsterdam(MunicipalArchiveofAmsterdam).Thisparticularstudy
wasstartedaround1970.Thehadbeenpracticallyreadyforyears.Theonlythingthathaddelayed
publicationallthistimewasthatDudokvanHeelhaddonehisresearchwithoutcomputers.
Thebookisnotjustanlineage.ThebookhassixchapterthatdiscussvariousfacetsoftheAmsterdam
patriciate.AllofitsshowsadeepknowledgeandunderstandingoftheAmsterdamelitethroughoutthe
centuries.

Rembrandt
Dudok van Heel
DudokvanHeelisnotonlyanexperiencedgenealogist,heisalsoanrespectedRembrandtspecialist.A
fewyearsago,hepromotedonastudyoftheyoungRembrandtinthereligiousandartisticlifeofthe
DutchRepublic.HisreputationissuchthateventheBritannicaarticleonRembrandtreferstohis
publicationsforfurtherreading.
ThequestionabouttheidentityofthemilitiamenontheNightWatchisonetheoldestchallengesin
forensicgenealogy.BasDudokvanHeeldecidedtousehisknowledgeofbothAmsterdamand
Rembrandttotackletheproblem.
Hoenderhof
DudokvanHeelhadsuccessidentifyingpeopleinpaintingsbefore.TheidentityofthegirlinJanSteens
paintingDeHoenderhof,dated1660,currentlyintheMauritshouseinTheHague,hadlongbeenatopic
ofcontention.Thepaintedbuildinghadbeenidentifiedbackin1921ascastleOudTeijlingennear
Warmond,buttheidentityofthegirlwasstillunknown.
ThenameofthefiveyearoldJacobaMariavanWassenaerhadbeenmentionedinthepast,butitwas
DudokvanHeelwhoconvincinglyshowedithadtobeher.

Night Watch militiamen

research
BasDudokvanHeelspentyearsresearchingarchivesandinventoriesofestatestounravelthemysteryof
themilitiamen.Heresearchedthefamilies,theirincome,theirproperties,theirfinancesandbusiness
contacts.HefoundclothingandotheritemsdepictedintheNightWatchmentionedininventoriesof
estates.Hecollatedallinformationwiththeknownageofthemilitiamenin1642,theyearthepainting
http://www.tamurajones.net/NightWatchIdentitiesRevealed.xhtml

2/3

2/11/2015

NightWatchidentitiesrevealed

wascompleted,andtheapparentageofthefiguresinthepainting.Whenhewasdone,hewasableto
linkeachnametoafigureinthepainting.
original display
DudokvanHeelsexaminationofthehistoricalcontextledtoanotherdiscovery.Itwaslongthoughtthat
thesixpaintingsthathadbeencommissionedforthegreathalloftheKloveniersdoelenwerenot
displayedassixseparatepaintings,butasanunbrokenseriesofmilitiaportraits,framedinthewooden
panellingoftheroom,agesamtkunstwerk.
Maria de Medici
ThegreathalliswheretheyhadwelcomedMariadeMedici,theexiledFrenchqueen,in1638.The
paintingbyVanSandraftexplicitlyreferstothiseventbyposingtheguardsmenoftheCompanyof
CaptainCornelisBickerandLieutenantFrederickvanBanchemaroundabustofher.
social appearance
Theappearanceofthemilitiamenrevealstheirsocialstatus.Forexample,thewealthy28yearold
musketeerJanBrugmanworehishairfashionablylongoveralargelacecollarandcouldaffordan
expensivemusket,whilethe45yearoldsergeantRomboutKemp,adevoutcalvinist,worearatherold
fashionedmillstoneruff.
drummer
DudokvanHeeldidnotjustidentifyalleighteenguardsman.HealsodiscoveredthatRembrandtmust
havedecidedtomaketheNightWatchin1640already,asitstilldepictsJanClasenLeijdeckerswho
diedthatyear.HealsoidentifiedthepreviouslyanonymousdrummerasJacobJorisz.
Rijksmuseum Bulletin
AlltheserevelationsaremadeinTheRijksmuseumBulletin,theacademicjournaloftheRijksmuseum,in
twoseparatearticlesoneabouttheoriginalplacementofthepaintingandoneabouttheidentificationof
theguardsmen.

links
Mauritshuis:JacobasPoultryYard(http://www.mauritshuis.nl/index.aspx?chapterid=8318)
Rijksmuseum:NightWatchwithNames
(http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/attachments/persmap/Rijks_TEFAF_wand_nachtwacht_CORR2.pdf)

CopyrightTamuraJones(http://www.tamurajones.net/WhatWhere.xhtml).AllRightsreserved.

http://www.tamurajones.net/NightWatchIdentitiesRevealed.xhtml

3/3