Following five years of intensive research and the re-stretching of the painting, today a team of eight Rijksmuseum conservators started removing the varnish from The Night Watch.
This marks the beginning of the second phase of Operation Night Watch, the biggest ever research and restoration project devoted to this masterpiece by Rembrandt. Removing the old varnish will enable us to preserve the painting for future generations. Visitors are able to follow the process live in the Night Watch Gallery, where the restoration work is being carried out with microscopic precision in the see-through glass chamber.
The museum conservators are using a special type of tissue to remove the varnish layers that were applied to the painting as part of its restoration in 1975-1976. The conservators place the tissue, prepared with a solvent, against the surface of The Night Watch for a short, limited amount of time. The varnish is solubilised and absorbed into the tissue. Then, using a microscope, they carefully remove any remnants of even older varnish with cotton swabs. This moment is the culmination of years of scientific research, applying this technique to other paintings, and conducting tests on The Night Watch itself.
Over the last five years a large team of conservators, curators, scientists and other specialists have studied The Night Watch using the most advanced technologies: from digital imaging to scientific and technical studies, and from computer science to artificial intelligence. This work has led to various breakthroughs in our understanding of the painting’s condition and the artist’s way of working. The team collaborates with experts from the Rijksmuseum’s main partner for this project, AkzoNobel, as well as the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE), Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), the University of Amsterdam (UvA), Amsterdam University Medical Centre (AUMC), the University of Antwerp (UA), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU), Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.
Main Image: Rijksmuseum/Henk Wildschut