\paperw19995 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 This painting represents the militia company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburgh. The\i Ni
ght Watch\i0 was commissioned as a group portrait, which traditionally took the form of a static succession of figures. Breaking with this tradition, Rembrandt presented the company in action, about to set off on a ceremonial parade. The figures that
make up the group are strongly characterized, but not isolated, multiplying the points of view and accentuating the narrative character of the scene, in which the figures of the children, the dog barking and, on the right, the drum major are all equally
important. The liveliness of the event is underlined by the presence of different directions: from the central group under the arch all the way to the figures in the foreground, everything indicates a different direction, accentuating an impression of m
ovement that opens the space up to the observer. The host of actors are arranged as if they stood on the front of a stage, with the clearly defined wings of the classical tradition. The single element around which the symmetry of the painting once turn
ed, the right foot of Captain Cocq, which served as a stabilizing point for the entire composition, has lost its function since the left-hand side of the picture was removed. This has distorted its effect to some extent, but has not impaired the emotion
