Rembrandt's masterpiece The Night Watch features a barking dog in the right-hand corner that was largely copied from a drawing by a lesser-known Dutch artist, according to new research by the Rijksmuseum. The discovery sheds light on the artist's practice of 'emulation'—a common technique in the 17th century where artists copied earlier works to improve their craft.
Anne Lenders, a curator at the Rijksmuseum, identified the source as a canine illustration on the title page of a 17th-century guide on resisting sexual temptation, created by Adriaen van de Venne for the poet Jacob Cats. Lenders made the connection while visiting an exhibition in Middelburg last year, noticing the dog's mirror image in the book.
Hi-tech scans of The Night Watch revealed further similarities in the chalk underdrawing. In the final painting, Rembrandt gave the dog a more active pose, with its tongue out—a detail that experts note is anatomically incorrect for a barking dog. Taco Dibbits, general director of the Rijksmuseum, compared Rembrandt's approach to Shakespeare's, saying both drew widely from earlier sources.
Dibbits explained that copying was considered 'emulation' in Rembrandt's time, not plagiarism. 'Rembrandt wanted to compete with the Italian masters, Raphael, Titian and Michelangelo,' he said. Lenders added that the dog's placement in the shadows adds excitement and action to the corner of the painting.
