A curator at Amsterdam’s landmark Rijksmuseum has discovered more or less by accident that a dog in Rembrandt van Rijn’s famous “Night Watch” is a near-identical copy of a 1619 drawing by fellow Dutch artist Adriaen van de Venne
The 17th century drawing by Dutch artist Adriaen van de Venne which inspired Rembrandt when painting a dog in the Night Watch, is shown on an easel at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
By MIKE CORDER – Associated Press
40 minutes ago
AMSTERDAM (AP) — It didn’t exactly take dogged detective work for an art sleuth in Amsterdam to solve a canine conundrum dating back to the Dutch Golden Age.
Anne Lenders, a curator at the city’s landmark Rijksmuseum, said Tuesday that it was more or less by accident that she discovered that the barking dog in Rembrandt van Rijn’s famous “Night Watch” is a near-identical copy of one that features in a 1619 pen and ink drawing by fellow Dutch artist Adriaen van de Venne.
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