Overview

• New research identifies Adriaen van de Venne’s 1619 canine as the likely source for the barking dog in Rembrandt’s The Night Watch.
• Operation Night Watch imaging revealed an underdrawing with a more bent foreleg and lower chest, bringing the figure even closer to Van de Venne’s design.
• The model image appears on the title page of a widely circulated Jacob Cats publication, making it familiar to 17th‑century viewers.
• The Van de Venne drawing has been in the Rijksmuseum collection for more than a century, yet its link to Rembrandt’s dog was only now recognized.
• Rijksmuseum leaders describe the borrowing as period‑typical emulation rather than plagiarism, and the dog’s breed remains unconfirmed.