Microbes on The Night Watch brought to light
ARTIS-Micropia and the Rijksmuseum bring bacteria on Rembrandt’s painting into view.
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Bacteria and other micro-organisms live on The Night Watch. ARTIS-Micropia and the Rijksmuseum will present the first research results from Wednesday in a new installation in Amsterdam.
Researchers from ARTIS-Micropia and the Rijksmuseum have taken samples from around sixty places on The Night Watch. The first results can be seen from 11 November in the De Nachtwacht Leeft installation at ARTIS-Micropia, alongside a life-size reproduction of Rembrandt’s painting.
The research is part of Operation Night Watch, the major research and restoration project the Rijksmuseum began in 2019. The painting is being examined for, among other things, paint, materials, changes in the composition and the condition of the canvas. The microbiological research focuses on the layer above the varnish.
The samples come from areas both with and without a varnish layer. Conservators place sterile cellulose discs in contact with the canvas; in the laboratory, the collected micro-organisms are cultivated and then identified. The samples were taken over six months and the research is continuing.
According to the initial results, bacteria have been found that occur on human skin and in soil. ARTIS-Micropia also mentions Microbacterium saccharophilum, a species previously described after a discovery at a sugar refinery in Japan. The researchers do not yet know how this bacterium came to be on the painting.
That does not mean that the bacteria date back to Rembrandt’s time. The researchers stress that living micro-organisms are difficult to date. Nor has it yet been established whether the species found have any effect on the condition of the painting.
The installation will be supplemented with new results over the coming months. The presentation is therefore not a completed inventory, but a public research project showing how a work of art is constantly in contact with its surroundings.
For the Rijksmuseum, the information could be relevant to the long-term restoration and preservation of The Night Watch. For visitors, the installation makes a normally invisible part of the painting visible: not only what Rembrandt put on the canvas, but also what has lived on it since.
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The article’s core is confirmed by primary information from ARTIS and an independent second source. The text clearly distinguishes between micro-organisms found and unproven assumptions about their age or effect on the painting.
- confirmed Around sixty places on The Night Watch were sampled. — ARTIS and EL PAÍS report around sixty samples, or sixty in total. source
- confirmed The first results can be seen at ARTIS-Micropia from 11 November 2026. — ARTIS gives the installation’s start date; AMS Oost confirms the date. source
- confirmed The microbiological research is part of Operation Night Watch. — ARTIS describes the collaboration within the research and restoration project. source
- confirmed Bacteria have been found that occur on human skin and in soil. — EL PAÍS mentions, among others, skin and soil bacteria. source
- confirmed Microbacterium saccharophilum was previously described after a discovery at a Japanese sugar refinery. — EL PAÍS links the species to a publication and discovery in Yokohama. source
- confirmed It has not been established how old the micro-organisms found are or what effect they have on the painting. — The source states that dating is difficult and that the researchers do not yet fully understand their significance. source
Editor's note
It is certain that ARTIS-Micropia and the Rijksmuseum have taken samples and will present the first results from 11 November. The research is still under way; the origin and possible influence of some bacteria have not been established.Sources
More on this in Dutch media
- AD — „de nacht wacht”
- de Volkskrant — „de nacht wacht”
- RTL Nieuws — „de nacht wacht”