‘Night Watch’ dog mystery solved: Rembrandt copied canine pose from Dutch artist’s work

Don’t miss the full story, whose reporting from Mike Corder at The Associated Press is the basis of this AI-assisted article.

A curator at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum discovered by accident that the barking dog in Rembrandt’s famous “Night Watch” painting is an almost identical copy of a dog from a 1619 drawing by Dutch artist Adriaen van de Venne.

Some key facts:

• Anne Lenders, a Rijksmuseum curator, made the discovery accidentally while visiting an exhibition at the Zeeuws Museum.

• The original dog appears in a 1619 pen and ink drawing by van de Venne that was printed in a book by poet Jacob Cats.

• Van de Venne’s drawing was already part of the Rijksmuseum’s own collection.

• Both dogs share identical poses, head angles, slightly opened mouths, long hair and vertically hanging ears.

• In “Night Watch,” the dog creates tension in a dark corner near drummer Jacob Jorisz and behind Lt. Willem van Ruytenburch.

• The discovery emerged during “Operation Night Watch,” a years-long restoration and research project that began in 2019.

• The massive canvas measures 379.5 by 453.5 centimeters (149.4 by 178.5 inches).

• Experts remain divided on the dog’s breed, with opinions split between French and Dutch varieties.

READ MORE: Rembrandt copied another artist’s canine for his famous ’Night Watch’