“The Night Watch” The Night Watch by Rembrandt van Rijn is a very influential work of art and embodies the rise of secular art in Europe, as well as the rise of Dutch democracy as it is known today. The Night Watch features secular elements symbolizing Dutch pride and democracy, and was painted during the Northern Baroque movement (particularly the Dutch Golden Age). The work undermined the Catholic church as it was painted to show human and secular emotions, as well as representing the Dutch nation which was becoming more important than the church. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayRembrandt was born in the 17th century around the same time as the (modern) Dutch nation (Wallace, 22). The nations of the Netherlands were finally getting the freedom they had wanted for years. In 1609, the seven northern provinces of Holland were freed from the political rule of the Spanish Empire, and the nation's institutions now began to become democratic after these "United Provinces" gained freedom under what was called the House of Orange . The United Provinces were Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelderland, Overjissel, Friesland and Groningen. After establishing their freedom, the United Provinces began to seek an even stronger sense of democracy. Representatives from each province were sent to the “modest court” of the Dutch government. This however failed, as each province considered itself autonomous in every aspect, except foreign policy and defence. Overall, although there were obstacles during the process of becoming a successful democratic nation liberated from Spain, the Netherlands was able to prosper and transform itself into a united nation. The general standing with his men shows the success and true camaraderie of the fledgling Dutch democracy. This demonstrates the small-scale camaraderie experienced by the general and his men, which was also seen throughout most of the Netherlands and much of Europe. Democracy was gaining more popularity than the Catholic church, and this contributed to the large-scale fall of the Catholic church. This is because people turned away from the church to movements like Protestantism and Lutheranism. Martin Luther strongly disliked many contradictory and unjust aspects. of the Catholic Church, and for this he gave life to his own movement. Luther disagreed with the Catholic Church on things like indulgences: he found them useless. He also strongly disliked members of the clergy going to brothels and performing ungodly acts with prostitutes. In essence, Luther believed that it was not necessary to go to church to be a “good” Christian. Arguably, Luther's greatest achievement was the posting of his “99 Theses” on the church door of Wittenburg University, where he attended and taught. These theses were 99 aspects of the church that Luther believed were serious issues. Rembrandt's personal life laid the foundation for his prominence in the art world. His rich background, interestingly enough, contrasts with the artwork he produced later in life. Rembrandt was born on 15 July 1606 in Leiden, Netherlands (Clark, aged 11) as the eighth of nine children (Wallace, aged 21). He was born under the name “van Rijn” because it means “of the Rhine River”, due to the fact that his rich miller father owned land near the Rhine River (Arpino, 17). This wealth did not appear to influence his art much later in life. His mother, Cornelia Willemsdochter van Zuytbrouck, was also relatively well-off, being the daughter of a baker (Wallace, 21). Rembrandt was very cultured from an early age,as he was sent to learn Latin at the age of 7. At the age of 15, his wealthy father sent him to college (Clark, 11). In his young adulthood, Rembrandt learned the basics of painting from Jacobvan Swanenburgh as his apprentice. After his apprenticeship, Rembrandt returned to Leiden and spent much time collaborating with Jan Lievens. This collaboration continued until 1631 when he moved to Amsterdam, the Netherlands (Clark, 63). Four years later, Rembrandt married Saskia van Uylenburgh, daughter of a more prominent family than Rembrandt: this led him to live in even greater wealth (Munz, 8). Again, this wealth did not affect the quality of the art he would make later in life. His art was very dark, messy and squalid, not the characteristics one would expect from a wealthy artist. Perhaps Rembrandt did this so that the viewer would focus more on the message rather than the aesthetics of the art - this is very plausible, since Rembrandt's messages were very forward-thinking in the sense that they contradicted the messages of the religious art he promoted the art. catholic church always so powerful. While an analysis of Rembrandt's well-rounded education leads to the conclusion that he was a Renaissance man, Rembrandt was actually alive during the Northern Baroque period. Although these two periods overlapped, the Northern Baroque ended up reaching its peak after the end of the Renaissance. This artistic movement heavily undermined the church, because the artists who took part in the movement filled their art with a sense of human emotion and realism, while the juxtaposed Italian Baroque movement presented exactly the opposite. Italian Baroque was mostly composed of pieces commissioned by the church to represent things like biblical characters. Northern Baroque is characterized as highly secular, in contrast to Italian Baroque which featured strong Christian symbolism and imagery. The Northern Baroque movement represented the rebirth of reason and human free will that began to take effect in Europe during the Renaissance. This is because, once again, the paintings featured age-old themes that emphasized true human emotions and gave the viewer something they could identify with. The Night Watch is a perfect example of this, as while the artists of the Italian Baroque movement painted depictions of Christian symbols and images, people like Rembrandt contributed to the Northern Baroque movement by painting secular pieces like this that represented things like reason. and democracy. As for the basis of this piece, it is 13' x 16' (Rembrandtpainting.net). The piece was commissioned by Captain Frans Banning Cocq (IBID). Cocq's high position as mayor in Amsterdam means that this piece was secularly significant, because it shows how power was shifting from the church to people like the mayors who made up smaller portions of the Netherlands' large-scale democracy. it was painted in the same year as Rembrandt's wife's death (Munz, 8). It is possible that this influenced the work, because the painting shows an ominous sadness in the dark parts, as well as in the men's overall facial expressions, as if they were reacting to the chaos. They look into the distance as if their attention were directed towards something that poses an immediate threat to them. It is as if Rembrandt wanted to paint his faces as a direct reaction to the power and control of the Church. The painting uses chiaroscuro, which is the contrast between dark and light, to direct the viewer's attention to certain parts of the work, such as the little girl. Thick, messy brushstrokes are a characteristic of the art of the Baroque periodnorthern. These brush strokes are representative of the human emotion that goes into the piece and the message the piece is intended to convey. In the case of The Night Watch, Rembrandt wanted the piece to convey messages of democracy and reason. During this period, since the church did not commission religious works, portraits became very common, among other types of art. All this art, if not entirely secular, tended to allude to the growing darkness of the church, as in the case of Bruegel's Hunters in the Snow. It featured churches placed far away in the background to represent their fall in popularity. Presumably this is arranged so that the viewer can recognize the existence of the church, but also see the symbolic message that the power and influence of the Catholic church was waning. While Northern Baroque is often recognized for its physical characteristics, there is a much deeper meaning to the art of this period based on the historical context and secular symbolism within the art. The weakening of the Catholic Church that took place not only in the Netherlands, but also in Europe, is demonstrated in the art of the Northern Baroque. This contrasts sharply with the Italian Baroque movement, which was occurring in the southern part of Europe. Italian Baroque consisted of pieces commissioned by the church and incorporated religious elements such as biblical characters and biblical tales. The method with which Rembrandt painted the work shows naturalistic and humanistic beliefs. It is not meant to seem perfect or “divine.” Three figures are most illuminated in this piece: Captain Banning Cocq, the lieutenant and a little girl. This represents how politics was becoming more important than religion and how the Catholic Church was losing power. This is because the men are described as very glorious and there is apparently no reference to the church (until we analyze the meaning of the little girl). The men look glorious because their facial expressions show courage in the face of chaos. Once again, it seems that Rembrandt may have implied that the power of the Church was chaotic. During the Northern Baroque period fewer and fewer people went to church, which is why churches did not commission many works of art. This is why Rembrandt's work was commissioned by a general and not someone like the pope. The piece features General Banning Cocq and his men. They are all attentive and seem ready to sacrifice themselves for the sake of reason. This was supposedly depicted to show the courage of the men. We can almost make out the background of the work, and this brings the men into focus, even if they themselves are partially obscured. Perhaps the most important figure in the work is the little girl, because she is the one illuminated most intensely. She is depicted wearing a dress and what appears to be a halo. It is very plausible that this is a representation of the gradual darkness and weakness of the Catholic Church at this time. The little girl is depicted behind the General. She also has a shy look, as if she knows someone is paying attention to her and doesn't know how to react. This is representative of the Church's reaction when it was discredited. For example, even though this happened a few hundred years earlier, the Church received negative attention after the Great Western Schism left it with three Popes and a complete lack of order. The little girl shows us a contrast to the glorious men who are now the center of the Netherlands. Continuing the work, the viewer can see a flag in the background which, once again, symbolizes the nation that was becoming increasingly important. Around the main menof the piece there are many people standing and they seem to be moving. This shows emotion due to the fact that such respectable people are in their presence. Rembrandt did not just use his art to express religion, but he used it to express his own beliefs, such as his socio-political views (IBID). This is potentially a major cause of the secular symbolism present in The Night Watch. As was said before, the piece was commissioned by Captain Frans Banning Cocq. He wanted it to be a portrait of him and the 17 civil guards who were under his command. It was supposed to be a normal portrait of men, however Rembrandt orchestrated the arrangement of the painting in such a way that instead of showing order, it actually resembles chaos (The Guardian). The people are all standing in different ways and there is no real order to the painting. This is perhaps a representation of the lack of order that the Catholic Church gave to Europe, while the Dutch democracy was creating a newfound sense of order. Although this painting is considered a “national symbol”, it seems to create a sort of mockery towards the government of the time (IBID). This is because Rembrandt went against the instructions of the general who commissioned the work by not depicting everyone in the painting with equal importance, as well as including characters in the painting who should not have been in the work. Ironically, it still promoted the idea of ​​the new Dutch democracy due to the fact that the entire "crew" under Banning Cocq, although not painted in the commissioned manner, is still depicted together. The piece, as mentioned before, undermined the church in the sense that it promoted nationality and democracy which people were beginning to focus on more than the church. It is very safe to assume that Rembrandt supported Calvinism, as he shared similar principles to those evident in the piece. Calvinism was essentially the belief that God had already predetermined who would be accepted into Heaven. That said, Calvinism also contained the belief that the church had no real purpose and that, once again, everyone was predestined to be accepted or rejected in Hell. Calvinism and the piece connect because they both represent the idea of ​​not letting the church prevail over one's reason. The piece shows humans exemplifying their courage and pride and not cowering behind the church. This is because men seem ready to react to any kind of chaos that is thrown at them and are not afraid to use their wits and reason to solve problems. By analyzing the piece, we can also easily make connections to The Miller's Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer. In this story we are introduced to a carpenter named John who follows the church. We are also introduced to Nick, a character who contrasts John. Nick was a Renaissance man, meaning he was essentially a master of all trades. Even though the ending of the story does not turn out to be in favor of any of the characters, the majority of the story shows that Nicholas had the upper hand over the carpenter. This proves that knowledge prevails over faith. It's almost as if Nicholas could be one of the men in Rembrandt's work. He showed his courage through reason. The knowledge he possessed in history would have been very revolutionary for his time. For example, at one point the carpenter thought that Nicholas's books had driven him crazy: it's almost as if the carpenter saw knowledge as some sort of demonic parasite that corrupts the mind. The carpenter thought it was better to have blind faith: This is similar to the view of people around the time Rembrandt painted his masterpiece. On one side of Europe, the.