The Company of Captain Banning Cocq

The work titled The Company of Captain Banning Cocq and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch, commonly known as The Nightwatch, was created by Gerrit Lundens in 1650 as an oil on oak panel measuring 66.8 cm by 85.4 cm. It entered the collection of the National Gallery through the bequest of the Revd Thomas Halford in 1857 and remains part of that institution's holdings. A smaller copy of the composition, made shortly after 1642, documents details lost when the original was trimmed in 1715, including figures on the extreme left and an expanded view of the drummer on the right. The painting is catalogued under accession number NG289 and is classified as a portrait work within the broader Night Watch series.

Gerrit Lundens's small copy of The Night Watch is held by the National Gallery in London, where it is recorded under accession number NG289. It entered the collection in 1857 as part of the bequest of the Reverend Thomas Halford.

The painting is documented as part of the National Gallery's holdings, with Wikidata also listing the Rijksmuseum as an associated collection location. It is catalogued as an oil on oak panel measuring 66.8 by 85.4 cm.

The work has been publicly accessible through the National Gallery and is also indexed by Art UK, which presents the painting online for non-commercial research and study use under UK copyright provisions.

Gerrit Lundens's small-scale copy holds a distinctive place in art history as a vital documentary record of Rembrandt's original composition. Because the painting is far smaller than Rembrandt's original, roughly 0.5 square metres compared with nearly 16 square metres, it preserves details that were lost when The Night Watch was trimmed on all sides, probably in 1715. The version shows figures no longer present in Rembrandt's painting, including two men and a child on the extreme left and more of the drummer on the right, making it a key reference for reconstructing the work's original appearance.

Lundens is documented as the author of this 1650 oil-on-oak portrait, and the panel is held in the National Gallery, having been bequeathed by the Revd Thomas Halford in 1857. Its status as a copy based on The Night Watch situates it within the broader tradition of reproductive afterimages of Rembrandt's most famous civic guard portrait, valued by scholars for the visual evidence it supplies about the lost portions of the original.

The Company of Captain Banning Cocq, painted by Gerrit Lundens around 1650, is a small-scale oil-on-oak copy of Rembrandt’s Night Watch. Because it preserves figures and details that disappeared when the original was trimmed on all sides, probably in 1715, the work serves as a vital historical document for reconstructing the lost composition. Held in the National Gallery since it was bequeathed by the Revd Thomas Halford in 1857, the painting’s modest dimensions (about 0.5 m² versus the Night Watch’s roughly 16 m²) underscore its role as a documentary record rather than a rival artwork, securing its lasting reputation as an essential reference for scholars studying Rembrandt’s masterpiece.

The Company of Captain Banning Cocq, painted around 1650 by Gerrit Lundens, is an oil-on-canvas portrait from the Dutch Golden Age. Lundens, a versatile artist and wine merchant, was known for genre scenes, portraits, and reproductions of prominent artists' works.