Treatment of The Night Watch begins
Remounting of Rembrandt’s masterpiece
Publication date: 19 January 2022 - 09:30
The treatment of The Night Watch started this morning with the detachment of the canvas from its wooden stretcher frame. Rembrandt’s masterpiece is to be remounted on an aluminium stretcher. The reasons this is necessary include the so-called deformations in the upper left corner, which are evidence of an uneven distribution of tension in the canvas. It is essential to retension the canvas and eradicate the deformations if we are to safeguard the painting for future generations. This structure-focused treatment marks the start of the treatment phase of Operation Night Watch, which we anticipate will take two to three months. Once it has been completed, decisions will be taken on whether to carry out additional restoration procedures.
We will now be using all the knowledge we have accumulated in the past two-and-a-half years of research on The Night Watch to get the painting into the best possible condition, so that people can enjoy the masterpiece for a very long time to come.
Taco Dibbits, Director of the Rijksmuseum
The inconsistent tension of the canvas and the deformations require immediate attention. These issues will be easily remedied and will not impact on the future of the painting. In order to carry out the necessary work The Night Watch will be laid out on the table in the glass chamber, where the canvas will be detached from its current stretcher frame. Once this has been done, the deformations will be rectified and the canvas will be remounted on its new aluminium stretcher frame.
New method for mounting canvas
The new tensioning method involves the use of springs to distribute tension evenly throughout the canvas. The springs will be attached to sensors to monitor the tension, which can then be adjusted whenever necessary.
Our experiences of using this method to mount large paintings have been very good. In 2012 we used the same method to treat Jan Willem Pieneman’s 1824 painting The Battle of Waterloo, which is much larger than The Night Watch and remains in good condition.
Petria Noble, the Rijksmuseum’s Head of Paintings Conservation
Detailed mapping
For the past two-and-a-half years, the Operation Night Watch team has been carrying out a detailed mapping of The Night Watch using the most advanced imaging techniques, alongside groundbreaking computer technology. Their work has delivered a much-improved understanding of the processes involved in making the painting and of its physical condition.
Operation Night Watch
Operation Night Watch is the biggest and most wide-ranging research project in the history of Rembrandt’s masterpiece, and is being carried out together with experts from its main partner AkzoNobel. Its aim is to conserve the painting for the future in the most optimal way possible. Work started in summer 2019, and takes place in a specially designed, transparent glass chamber, making it possible for the visiting public to follow the process.
Partnerships
For Operation Night Watch, the Rijksmuseum is working with experts from the project’s main partner AkzoNobel, the Cultural Heritage Agency (RCE), Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), the University of Amsterdam (UvA), Amsterdam University Medical Centres (AUMC), Antwerp University (UA), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU), Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC.
AkzoNobel is the main partner of Operation Night Watch
Operation Night Watch is made possible in part by The Bennink Foundation, C.L. de Carvalho-Heineken, PACCAR Foundation, Piet van der Slikke & Sandra Swelheim, American Express Foundation, Familie De Rooij, Het AutoBinck Fonds, TBRM Engineering Solutions, Dina & Kjell Johnsen, Familie D. Ermia, Familie M. van Poecke, Bruker Nano Analytics, Henry M. Holterman Fonds, Irma Theodora Fonds, Luca Fonds, Piek-den Hartog Fonds, Stichting Zabawas, Cevat Fonds, Johanna Kast-Michel Fonds, Marjorie & Jeffrey A. Rosen, Stichting Thurkowfonds, The Night Watch Fund, Familie Van Ogtrop Fonds, the City of Amsterdam and Amsterdam Museum.
Vital support
The Rijksmuseum is grateful for all forms of support it receives. It is clear that government subsidies, corporate contributions and support from funds, as well as donations, legacies and Friends are, and will remain, essential to the Rijksmuseum.
