Location
The Night Watch was first hung in the Kloveniersdoelen in Amsterdam in the Groote Zaal (Great Hall). This is now known as the Doelen Hotel. In 1715 it was moved to the Amsterdam town hall, for which it was altered. When Napoleon occupied the Netherlands, the town hall became the Palace on the Dam. The magistrates moved the painting to the Trippenhuis of the family Trip. Napoleon ordered it back, but after the occupation the painting was moved to the Trippenhuis again, which had now become the Dutch Academy of Sciences, and was moved to the new Rijksmuseum building when it was finished in 1885.
The painting was moved in September 1939, just before the outbreak of the Second World War. The canvas was detached from its frame and rolled around a cylinder. The rolled painting was stored in a castle in Medemblik, north of Amsterdam. After the end of the war, the canvas was unrolled, re-mounted and restored; and then the Night Watch returned to its rightful place in the Rijksmuseum.
On December 11, 2003, The Night Watch started its move to a temporary location, due to a major refurbishment of the Rijksmuseum. The painting was detached from its frame, wrapped in stain-free paper, put into a wooden frame which was put into two sleeves, driven on a cart to its new destination, hoisted up, and brought into his new home through a special slit.
While the refurbishment takes place, The Night Watch can be observed from its temporary location in the Philipsvleugel of the Rijksmuseum. When the refurbishment is finished in April 2013, the painting will be returned to its original place in the Nachtwachtzaal (Dutch for "Room of the Night Watch").
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