Bacterium from a Japanese sugar refinery found on Rembrandt’s Night Watch
Researchers from the Rijksmuseum and ARTIS-Micropia found skin bacteria, soil bacteria and a bacterium first identified at a Japanese sugar refinery on Rembrandt's Night Watch. The microbes are on show in Amsterdam until the end of May 2027.
A bacterium first identified at a Japanese sugar refinery has been found on Rembrandt’s The Night Watch, ARTIS and the Rijksmuseum said on Tuesday. How it got onto the painting is still a mystery.
The find comes from a joint study by the Rijksmuseum and ARTIS-Micropia, the microbe museum in Amsterdam. Micropia’s laboratory technicians and the Rijksmuseum’s conservators are taking samples from around sixty places on the painting over a period of six months. In the laboratory, the microbes grow into visible colonies.
Skin bacteria and soil bacteria
The first results reveal a surprising mix of organisms, the museums say. Skin bacteria were found, including Staphylococcus epidermidis and Micrococcus luteus. Bacteria known to live in soil and around plant roots were also detected.
One striking find is Microbacterium saccharophilum, a species first identified in 2013 at a Japanese sugar refinery.
“Thanks to the unique expertise of ARTIS-Micropia, we will soon also know which micro-organisms live on The Night Watch,” said Katrien Keune, head of science at the Rijksmuseum. The study is part of Operation Night Watch, which the museum calls the largest research and restoration project ever undertaken on the painting.
On display until May 2027
The colonies are shown next to a life-size reproduction of the painting in the installation The Night Watch Lives, which was officially opened at ARTIS-Micropia on Tuesday. It is on display from 11 November, and new results will be added in the coming months. The installation runs until the end of May 2027.
