International Art Treasures Web Magazine

May 2004  

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Moving The Night Watch

Title: Preparing to move Rembrandt's Masterpiece "The Night Watch"
Image Courtesy: Royal Philips Electronics

The eyes of the art world watched Amsterdam on December 11, 2003. The culmination of a year's planning were ready to be put into action.

The Rijksmuseum is currently under renovations with the addition of a new wing set to open in 2008. In the meantime the artwork is still on display but several pieces needed to be moved while the renovations take place. IATWM discusses the current exhibition at the Rijksmuseum, The Masterpieces here.

The pièce de résistance of the Rijksmuseum, should one bravely limit the selection from their impressive collection, would have to be Rembrandt's The Night Watch or The Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq.

Given its impressive lighting, composition and color it is sometimes considered the world's greatest masterpiece though there are a few others that would readily claim the title.

Title: Packing Rembrandt's Night Watch
Image Courtesy: Royal Philips Electronics

In order to undertake such a move the most critical aspect is trust. Who in the world can understand such a project, execute it successfully without damaging one of the symbols of The Netherlands, while having the courage to accept a challenge in which failure will never be forgiven or forgotten. The pressure was on and there wouldn't be a second try to get it right.

Royal Philips Electronics

“Philips is more that that just a founding sponsor of the Rijksmuseum, we consider our relationship a partnership. When a significant challenge such as moving The Night Watch came along we were happy to provide our technology and engineering know how to protect this priceless treasure,” says Andrea Ragnetti, Philips Chief Marketing Officer.

Title: Moving Rembrandt's Night Watch
Image Courtesy: Royal Philips Electronics

Gerlach Art Packers and Shippers

In 1881 the Gerlach family founded the company. Gerlach is proud of its highly trained staff, expertise and state-of-the-art technology. The company offers transportation tracking by satellite and secure climate controlled and dust free storage facilities.  In the past Gerlach has been trusted to move priceless art for such stellar museums including The Rijksmuseum, The Van Gogh Museum the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Western Museum in Tokyo.

Gerlach Art Packers & Shippers, responsible for packing and moving most of the collection of the Rijksmuseum, took care of the actual packing and moving of The Night Watch

Title: Moving The Night Watch along the Street
Image Courtesy: Royal Philips Electronics

It has been moved before!

The painting has left the Rijksmuseum on two occasions. In 1898, for an exhibit at the Stedelijk Museum eighteen men carried The Night Watch down the street. That option simply wasn't feasible for this team. The second time in 1939, the painting was hidden during World War II. The packing method for this move was to bury the masterpiece 100 feet in the ground.

Prior to the work coming to the Rijksmuseum in 1715, two panels were cut and removed from the painting that option would not meet one of the critical criteria of this move, not damaging the painting in any way.

Planning the Move

The obvious solution had to be rejected out of hand. “The ideal situation for such a priceless work of art is to never move it,” explains Hubert Vroomen, head of the Semiconductor Equipment Research Group, Philips Center for Industrial Technologies. Philips developed innovative technology specifically designed to monitor the temperature of the move. In a touch of creative genius the company printed an image of The Night Watch on the canvas they developed.

Hubert Vroomen continues, “However, we succeeded in doing the next-best thing by creating a mini-environment with our customized cover. By keeping temperature and humidity levels constant, and by controlling shock and vibrations, we made it possible to move the painting without altering its physical condition.”

Logistics

With imposing dimensions of 4.54,5 x 3.79,5 m (11.9 x 14.4 feet) with a weight of 170 kilos (743 pounds) meant The Night Watch actually had to leave the building to be transported to the Philips Wing.

Weather, road conditions and the crowds watching were just a few of the many challenges adding to the problems for Philips, Gerlach and The Rijksmuseum to tackle.

The Protective Layers

Using the principle of multiple layers (as in modern winter sport
garments) the packing consists of six layers.  The first three are traditional packing methods Gerlach uses for moving paintings, while the final three are part of the intelligent protective cover specially designed by Philips.

Layer 1: Acid-free paper lain directly on The Night Watch to 
protect the paint from rubbing and chemical alterations.

Layer 2: Special plastic was wrapped around the entire painting. The goal of this layer was to ensure that the air in contact with the painting stands still and becomes the first isolating barrier.

Layer 3: The Night Watch was placed in a wood and cardboard transporting box. The painting can now be moved without anyone having to directly touch the painting.

Layer 4: A steel frame was the fulcrum piece of the Phillips designed protective cover that was taking on all the stresses of the move.

Layer 5: A foam-like insulation of high thermal resistance was the critical thermal barrier and also the first waterproof layer.

Layer 6: The final blue layer was a Kevlar security blanket that provided a second waterproof layer and the final thermal barrier.

Moving Day: December 11, 2003

Title: Hoisting The Night Watch
Image Courtesy: Royal Philips Electronics

The hardest part of the entire move, with a potentially large margin for error was just before the masterpiece entered the Philips Wing. The Night Watch was hoisted before the "mailbox" entrance using a crane to life  the 2,000-kilogram (4,400-pound) box.

Precision placement was necessary at the entrance for "optimal thermal protection and ergonomics for the team".

Title: Unpacking The Night Watch the 6 layers are removed
Image Courtesy: Royal Philips Electronics

This was achieved using "docking" a technology more familiar to the semiconductor industry.

Once the painting approached the entrance a specially constructed "docking plate" orientated the painting in the optimal position. Then the cover lead was lowered to a "locking" situation in which the docking plate hooked into the lower and upper border of the entrance and attached the cover of the painting to the building of the Philips Wing.

The purpose was to immobile the cover to one degree of freedom which was locked via a simple fixture onto a scaffold.

Success

Title: The Night Watch
Artist: Rembrandt van Rijn
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Permanent Collection: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Image Courtesy: Royal Philips Electronics

Congratulations to everyone involved in the smoothly executed transportation of this important Rembrandt masterpiece. We mean everyone. The packers, movers, hoisters and the art teams, not merely the executives overseeing it, who themselves deserve praise. IATWM wants to single out the actual crew that built the protective covers and monitored every aspect of the move.

The protective cover Philips designed will not be used in commercial endeavors and is being kept by the company. It is a great symbol of science meeting art. After all they may need to use it once again when it's time to move The Night Watch back into its usual home in the Rijksmuseum.