On 14 September 1975, an
unemployed schoolteacher named Wilhelmus de Rijk walked into
Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum and headed straight for Rembrandt’s The
Night Watch. He stood in front of the painting, looking creepy, until
the guards asked him to leave. At which point De Rijk walked out of
the room, walked back in, and attacked the painting with a bread
knife that he had stolen from his hotel’s room service. De Rijk
managed to hold the museum guards off long enough to slash the
painting more than twelve times. The guards finally wrestled De Rijk
to the ground.
After a four-year
restoration process, the painting went back up, this time under
permanent guard. Which was lucky, because in 1990 another attacker
sprayed acid on the painting, but the guards were able to douse the
painting with water quickly enough to avoid permanent damage.
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| Damage to the painting |
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| Restoration by I. Kuyper |
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| Restoration |
The masterpiece was
finished by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn in 1642 and is officially
titled “The Company of Frans Banning Cocq and Willem van
Ruytenburch”.
Documentary (Dutch)
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