1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:08,320 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:11,720 Speaker 1: a show that paints the broad strokes of history one 4 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:16,040 Speaker 1: day at a time. I'm Gay Bluesier, and in this episode, 5 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: we're looking at the story behind one of the most 6 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,439 Speaker 1: acclaimed portraits of the seventeenth century and how it became 7 00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 1: one of the most abused paintings in the world. The 8 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: day was September nineteen seventy five. Rembrandt von Rhyns The 9 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:44,120 Speaker 1: night Watch was vandalized while on display at the Reich's 10 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:48,559 Speaker 1: Museum in Amsterdam. The man behind the attack was an 11 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:53,280 Speaker 1: unemployed school teacher named William day Reich. Using a butter 12 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:57,280 Speaker 1: knife and allegedly acting on orders from God, day Reich 13 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: sliced dozens of jagged lines into the canvas before being 14 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 1: subdued by museum guards. Sadly and strangely, that wasn't the 15 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:11,320 Speaker 1: first or the last time The night Watch came under attack. 16 00:01:12,319 --> 00:01:15,560 Speaker 1: Rembrandt's The Night Watch is considered one of the high 17 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:19,119 Speaker 1: points of a career that spanned more than six hundred paintings. 18 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:22,800 Speaker 1: It's also held up is perhaps the greatest portrait of 19 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:26,479 Speaker 1: the Dutch Golden Age, a period from fifteen eighty eight 20 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: to sixteen seventy two in which the trade, science, and 21 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:34,760 Speaker 1: art of the Netherlands were renowned throughout Europe. Completed in 22 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 1: sixteen forty two, The Night Watch depicts a gathering of 23 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 1: civic guards or militiamen, as they set out to keep 24 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:46,520 Speaker 1: watch over Amsterdam. Not only is The Night Watch Rembrandt's 25 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 1: most famous painting, it's also his biggest, Spanning just about 26 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:55,480 Speaker 1: twelve feet tall and fourteen feet wide. The colossal work 27 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: was commissioned by the subjects of the paintings, the civic 28 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: guards of the Dutch cap a group known as the Cloveniers. 29 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 1: They wanted a series of portraits to hang in their 30 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 1: meeting hall, and Rembrandt was one of several artists hired 31 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:13,480 Speaker 1: to produce the artwork. According to the Reich's Museum, Rembrandt 32 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: was paid sixteen hundred guilders for his painting, which for reference, 33 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 1: was more than five times the annual salary of an 34 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:25,400 Speaker 1: outdoor laborer. In exchange for this small fortune, the artist 35 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 1: delivered one of the standout portraits of the entire seventeenth century. 36 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: He didn't play it safe either, In fact, he actually 37 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:37,640 Speaker 1: deviated from what was expected in a couple different ways. First, 38 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:42,280 Speaker 1: Rembrandt staged the painting in an unusual way. While numerous 39 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:46,040 Speaker 1: military officials had been painted in group portraits before, they'd 40 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:49,720 Speaker 1: always been portrayed as static, like someone posing for a picture. 41 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:53,800 Speaker 1: Rembrandt tossed out that convention in favor of showing the 42 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:57,000 Speaker 1: guards in apparent motion, as if they were marching through 43 00:02:57,000 --> 00:02:59,720 Speaker 1: the city, out of the canvass and towards the viewer. 44 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:03,280 Speaker 1: In other words, he staged the portrait as if it 45 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:06,880 Speaker 1: were a historical painting, making it seem like a portrayal 46 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 1: of some important event instead of just a bunch of 47 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: guys standing still. But The Night Watch also stands out 48 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 1: from other art of the era due to its dramatic 49 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:20,200 Speaker 1: use of color and in particular its contrasting use of 50 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:24,200 Speaker 1: light and shadow. For example, in the foreground of the painting, 51 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:26,800 Speaker 1: we see the captain of the guard in dark colored 52 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:31,120 Speaker 1: clothing standing next to his lieutenant, who's wearing bright gold clothing. 53 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:34,960 Speaker 1: That motif continues in the crowd of figures that stand 54 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:38,320 Speaker 1: behind them. The dark toned background is broken up by 55 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:41,560 Speaker 1: the light colored faces and highlighted forms of the other 56 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:45,760 Speaker 1: civic guardsmen, and to add even more contrasting shades of 57 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:49,960 Speaker 1: light to the scene, Rembrandt included a glowing, blondhaired child 58 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:53,240 Speaker 1: dressed in golden robes just to the left of the captain. 59 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:56,800 Speaker 1: To be clear, this young girl was not a real 60 00:03:56,880 --> 00:04:00,200 Speaker 1: member of the Cloveniers. Instead, she was included it as 61 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 1: a kind of symbolic mascot for the group. Despite these 62 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:08,440 Speaker 1: unconventional touches, the guardsmen were reportedly quite happy with the 63 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:12,360 Speaker 1: portrait and displayed it in their hall as intended. But 64 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:16,040 Speaker 1: speaking of light and shadow, the painting's title is actually 65 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 1: a misnomer. In fact, it was originally called the Shooting 66 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:24,400 Speaker 1: Company of Captain Franz Bonning Coke, and it went by 67 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: others similarly unwieldy names as well over time, though the 68 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:31,919 Speaker 1: painting's dark background earned it the name that Stuck the 69 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:36,320 Speaker 1: night Watch. But as I said, that title isn't really accurate. 70 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:40,520 Speaker 1: In the nineties, the canvas underwent a thorough cleaning, at 71 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:43,360 Speaker 1: which point it was realized that the painting was actually 72 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:46,960 Speaker 1: said in the daytime. The dark background wasn't the night 73 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 1: sky at all. It was just varnish that had turned 74 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:54,760 Speaker 1: dark with age and grime. Still, old habits die hard, 75 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:58,159 Speaker 1: so even after the varnish was removed, the famous name 76 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 1: stayed put. In an interesting twist, the dirty varnish that 77 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:06,960 Speaker 1: had confused viewers for centuries actually helped protect the painting 78 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:10,159 Speaker 1: when it was attacked for the first time. The event 79 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:13,400 Speaker 1: occurred in early nineteen eleven, when a navy cook who 80 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:16,640 Speaker 1: was down on his luck, decided to vent his frustrations 81 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:20,880 Speaker 1: by disfiguring a beloved work of art. Thankfully, the cook 82 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:23,839 Speaker 1: wasn't able to cause much damage, as he couldn't get 83 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:27,280 Speaker 1: his knife through the painting's thick coat of varnish. It 84 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:30,040 Speaker 1: was a lucky break for art lovers, but since the 85 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:33,400 Speaker 1: varnish was later removed in the nineteen forties, the painting 86 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:37,280 Speaker 1: was more susceptible to damage during the second knife attack 87 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 1: on September fourteenth, nineteen seventy five. On that occasion, it 88 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:45,880 Speaker 1: was out of work schoolmaster William de Reich, who was 89 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:49,360 Speaker 1: feeling frustrated. He had tried to slash the painting the 90 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 1: day before, but wound up being turned away because he'd 91 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:56,920 Speaker 1: arrived at the museum after closing time. Annoyed but undeterred, 92 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:00,719 Speaker 1: de Reich returned to the museum the following afternoon. He 93 00:06:00,839 --> 00:06:04,040 Speaker 1: walked directly to the large chamber where the night watch hangs, 94 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:07,159 Speaker 1: and proceeded to slash at the lower center section of 95 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:10,760 Speaker 1: the enormous canvas. A guard grabbed him by the arm 96 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:13,480 Speaker 1: to make him stop, but day Reich shook him off 97 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:17,120 Speaker 1: and kept right on slashing. He was eventually wrestled to 98 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 1: the ground with the aid of two bystanders and fellow 99 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:23,280 Speaker 1: guards who had rushed over from other rooms. As they 100 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:26,839 Speaker 1: waited for police to arrive. Day Reich tried to explain 101 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:29,680 Speaker 1: his actions, claiming he'd been sent to the museum on 102 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:32,640 Speaker 1: a divine mission and that he quote did it for 103 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:36,240 Speaker 1: the Lord. It was later revealed that the thirty eight 104 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:39,280 Speaker 1: year old former teacher had a history of mental illness, 105 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 1: and then he truly believed he had been ordered by 106 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 1: God to destroy the painting. Under this compulsion, day Reich 107 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:49,320 Speaker 1: traveled to the city from his village thirty miles west 108 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:52,040 Speaker 1: of Amsterdam, and then stole a butter knife from the 109 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:56,159 Speaker 1: downtown restaurant where he had gotten lunch. After his capture, 110 00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:59,800 Speaker 1: day Reich was diagnosed with a mental disorder and committed 111 00:06:59,839 --> 00:07:03,400 Speaker 1: to a psychiatric hospital. Less than a year later, he 112 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:07,520 Speaker 1: died there by his own hand. Although day Reich had 113 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:11,080 Speaker 1: attacked the night Watch with a relatively blunt knife, he 114 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:14,800 Speaker 1: still managed to do extensive damage to the painting. He 115 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:17,560 Speaker 1: had struck in more than a dozen places, with some 116 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:20,520 Speaker 1: of the cuts stretching more than two ft long, and 117 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:23,120 Speaker 1: in the center section a twelve by two and a 118 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:26,200 Speaker 1: half inch piece of canvas had been completely torn off. 119 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:30,440 Speaker 1: It took six months to restore the massive painting, and 120 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:34,520 Speaker 1: even then traces of the cuts were still visible. From 121 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:37,720 Speaker 1: that point on, the night Watch was put under permanent 122 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: guard day and night. However, even that wasn't enough to 123 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:46,880 Speaker 1: deter would be attackers. In April of nine, the Hapless 124 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:50,840 Speaker 1: painting was defaced again, this time by being sprayed with 125 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:54,960 Speaker 1: a concentrated dose of sulfuric acid. If you're keeping track, 126 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:58,760 Speaker 1: That was the third and thankfully final time the night 127 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:03,080 Speaker 1: Watch was attacked in the twentieth century. At least, once again, 128 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:07,440 Speaker 1: the painting underwent a lengthy restoration process, and once again 129 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:12,120 Speaker 1: the damage was mostly undone. The current main building of 130 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:16,040 Speaker 1: the Reich's Museum opened on July thirteenth, eighteen eighty five. 131 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:18,960 Speaker 1: Since then, the night Watch has been one of the 132 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:23,360 Speaker 1: biggest draws of the museum's already impressive collection. Prior to 133 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:27,000 Speaker 1: COVID nineteen, more than two million visitors came to see 134 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:30,800 Speaker 1: it each year. It's basically required viewing for every school 135 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:34,240 Speaker 1: kid in the Netherlands, for local omster dammers, and of 136 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:38,160 Speaker 1: course for tourists. And while clearly not everyone is a 137 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:41,040 Speaker 1: fan of what they see, the majority can help but 138 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:45,360 Speaker 1: marvel at the painting's use of contrast, its composition, its 139 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:49,560 Speaker 1: sense of motion, and its sheer size from any angle. 140 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:54,120 Speaker 1: Rembrandts The Night Watch continues to impress and captivate viewers 141 00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:58,400 Speaker 1: nearly four centuries after its creation, even if the painting 142 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:04,240 Speaker 1: itself is a little for wear. I'm Gabe Lousier and 143 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:07,600 Speaker 1: hopefully you now know a little more about art history 144 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:11,360 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. You can learn even more 145 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:15,360 Speaker 1: about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram 146 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:19,319 Speaker 1: at t d i HC Show. You can also rate 147 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:22,120 Speaker 1: and review the show on Apple Podcasts, or you can 148 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:25,240 Speaker 1: send your feedback directly to me at this day at 149 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:28,840 Speaker 1: I heeart media dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for 150 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:31,840 Speaker 1: producing the show, and thank you for listening. I'll see 151 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:35,360 Speaker 1: you back here again tomorrow for another day in history Class.