The Dog in The Night Watch:

Rembrandt Inspired by Adriaen van de Venne

Abstract

Contrary to the past assumption that the dog in Rembrandt’s The Night Watch was the product of studies drawn from life, the author of the present short notice argues for the first time that the master looked instead to an already existing example, most likely a design drawing by Adriaen van de Venne (1590-1662). The design drawing was made for the engraved title page of Jacob Cats’s Self-stryt, dat is, Krachtighe beweginghe van Vlees ende Gheest, a popular emblem book first published in 1620. In form and pose, the dog in Rembrandt’s painting greatly resembles Van de Venne’s drawn animal. The article examines similarities between the two depictions, showing that Rembrandt had conceivably seen Van de Venne’s image and that the use of such examples was entirely in line with his working practice.