Rembrandt protected Night Watch against moisture with a lead-containing layer

The Night Watch by Rembrandt has a lead-containing layer under the primer to protect the world-famous painting from moisture. The Rijksmuseum announced this on Friday. The University of Utrecht calls it a lead-containing oil, a conclusion that has come from "advanced analysis from a real sample of paint from the historical painting."

The so-called Operation Night Watch researchers discovered the previously unknown layer from the painting from 1642. Operation Night Watch is the name of the extensive study of the painting and has as its goal "to keep the painting in optimal condition for the future," the museum says. It started in the summer of 2019. The public could follow along every set of the way because the research has been carried out behind a glass partition in a room in the museum.

The method that Rembrandt used "was already described in the 17th century but has never been found in Rembrandt's paintings or in those of his contemporaries. This again shows Rembrandt's inventive way of working, where he did not shy away from using new techniques", the Rijksmuseum says in a message on its website.

"The painter knew that his painting would hang on the inside of the (moist) outside wall of the big room in the Kloveniersdoelen in Amsterdam. A lead-rich oil impregnation protects better against moisture and mold than the glue layer that was commonly applied to the canvas in the 17th century."

The Rijksmuseum says that research was conducted on "a paint sample at a particle accelerator, the PETRA III synchrotron of DESY in Hamburg. With that, it was shown that there is a lead-containing layer under the primer. The Night Watch was also examined with non-invasive imaging techniques in the Eregalerij of the Rijksmuseum. That confirmed the presence of a lead-containing layer."