Willem van Ruytenburch

Willem van Ruytenburch is second to Captain Frans Banning Cocq in Rembrandt's Night Watch.

Willem van Ruytenburch (baptized 13 August 1600 - 1657) of Amsterdam was a lieutenant to Captain Frans Banning Cocq in the mid-17th century. He is best known as the lieutenant in Rembrandt's masterpiece The Night Watch.^[1]

Although known as The Night Watch, this is not the original title; at that time it was in fact unusual to title paintings but if indeed it had a name, the more correct one would be "The Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch". The painting is notable, among other things, for its huge size: approximately 3.35 m × 4.26 m (11.0 ft × 14.0 ft).

References

1. "'The Company of Capteyn Frans Banning Cocq' (aka 'The Night Watch') by Rembrandt". Retrieved 12 March 2012.