The night watch, Rembrandt's most controversial work as well as the most famous work in all his life, was created in 1642. At that time, he accepted an order of a group picture of the striker team members in Amsterdam. Rembrandt designed the picture's composition elaborately to get rid of being a mess that all the people crowded together in one picture. Rembrandt tried his best to make everybody seen and well-proportioned, at the same time, he made lieutenant Spot Ning Kirk and his deputy, the center of the picture, outstanding. Hence, Rembrandt abandoned the old composition of picture, took the near-stage way as the painting from. The near-stage form is a form that every character appears in the picture at the same time and well-proportioned. From this picture, we can see that the troops poured into the street, there are two people wearing different clothes walking in front of the troops and they become the center of the picture. One wears a suit of black uniform, a black hat and wraps a red shawls, the other is in a suit of yellow uniform and a yellow hat. These two people are discussing something calmly and prepare to make a decision of the troops. The other members follow them, some are holding long guns in hands, some are waving the flag and some are discussing, the tense atmosphere of starting off is quite vivid. It is really a solemn scene of soldiers going out to battle. Among the troops, there is a little girl, who is really outstanding and panicky crowded in the mess. This is an unexpected interlude in the picture. However, some people even think she is the embodiment of the bright and truth, as well as the glorious memory of recalling people resist domination. In the picture, besides the two main characters and the little girl, all the others are arranged in the dark tone. The distinct contrast between bright and dark, the difference between primary and secondary characters make this picture full of sense of hierarchy. Meanwhile, the painter set a lot of black blank on purpose to leave a lot imagination among the audience. However, since this oil painting lost its colour and the oil on the surface turned dark brown, some people mistook it for the night scene. That how The night watch came from. According to the professors later, tha painter drew the picture with the natural light of the day, so it is a scene that happened by day.
Nevertheless, the employers of this picture were not satisfied about it for every shooter had paid the same money, but they were not arranged in the same place and reflected in the same clearness. As a result, they asked to alter the picture but were refused by Rembrandt. In order to get back the money, the Shooter Guild in Amsterdam sued Rembrandt to the court and launched unbridled attacks to him.
In The night watch, the painter formed an atmosphere full of tension, misery and vigor by special composition, colour and light skill. It broke the rules of the agitation and gaud in Baroque Art, but pay more attention on the inner activities in human.