As has often been noted, the year 1642 - marked by the death of Saskia and the painting of the Night Watch - was a turning point in Rembrandt's career, both personally and artistically. Up to that time, baroque compositions of dynamic action and reaction abound, from the Stoning of St Stephen to the Blinding of Samson and thence to the Night Watch itself. Certain of these anticipate the Night Watch in their overall design and pictorial strategy, among them Rembrandt's most ambitious etching of a Lion Hunt, which dates from immediately before it, in 1641.
MOST POPULAR PAINTINGS
The Storm on the Sea of Galilee
The Night Watch
The Return of the Prodigal Son
The Jewish Bride
The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp
The Polish Rider
Self Portrait, 1669
Jan Six, 1654
Hundred Guilder Print, 1649
Belshazzars Feast