Restoration of 'The Night Watch' to solve Rembrandt's mystery
The restoration work of "The Night Watch" can be followed by the public at the museum.


Dutch painter Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn's masterpiece "The Night Watch" (1642) will be publicly restored at Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The painting was created by Rembrandt, who is known as the painter of light and shadows and one of the most important painters in European and Dutch art history, and will undergo the most comprehensive and innovative conservation work in recent history.

The work, which will be carried out in light of scientific research, which will be done for the first time, is aimed at providing a better understanding of the mysterious technique and unique paint formulations that Rembrandt applied in his paintings.

Experts and art enthusiasts will be able to follow the restoration of "The Night Watch." The restoration work, called Operation Night Watch, will be the first major operation the painting will undergo since it was repeatedly stabbed by a museum visitor in 1975. Taco Dibbits, the director of the museum, said that more than 2.5 million people come to the museum every year to see this work. Dibbits added that it belongs to everyone living in the Netherlands and in the whole world, therefore, everyone has a right to see what happens to the work during the restorations.