8. The Night Watch by Rembrandt van Rijn
The painting depicts the shooting company led by Captain Frans Banning Cocq; thirty-four characters in all, along with a little girl who is supposed to a mascot. Interestingly, its title of The Night Watch is not its actual name: it has several names, each longer than the last. For instance, one of such names is The Shooting Company of Frans Banninck Cocq and Willem van Ruytenburch. Rembrandt originally painted it to show daytime, but aging and dirt took its toll on the picture, and it grew so dark as to be nicknamed The Night Watch. The original painting was also too big to fit the hall where it was supposed to hang, so it was cut from the edges, and later, eighteen names were added to the arch in the painting. Both of these alterations were made long after the artist had passed away.
