Rijksmuseum says that just like Shakespeare, Rembrandt drew widely and shamelessly from earlier sources
When most people copy someone else’s pictures or ideas it’s generally considered plagiarism. But when Rembrandt did it, it was “emulation” – a display of his craft, experts have said, as they revealed research pointing to an image “inspired” by another in one of the Dutch master’s most famous paintings.
The Night Watch, Rembrandt’s 1642 masterpiece showing the citizens of Amsterdam marching out to defend the city, features a barking dog in the right-hand corner that is largely copied from a popular drawing by a lesser-known Dutch artist, it has been claimed.
