Rembrandt’s famous painting, The Night Watch, has been made available as NFT in 8,000 pieces, according a statement.
“Now, everyone has the opportunity to own a digital piece of one of Rembrandt’s most celebrated works, The Night Watch (1642). The painting has been divided into 8,000 pieces, which are available in the form of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) — a digital certificate of ownership,” the statement said.
Not only will the sale of NFTs be a milestone step in making Rembrandt ownership accessible for all, but owners will also be granted exclusive access to the new, and soon to be open, MetaRembrandt Museum — the only place in the world where all the paintings of Rembrandt van Rijn can be found remastered, digitally restored to their original state, and in high definition.
The Night Watch NFT initiative is the result of a collaboration between the Rembrandt Heritage Foundation and blockchain innovators HODL Finance. It was announced on the first anniversary of the death of world-renowned Rembrandt expert, Professor Dr Ernst van de Wetering, who worked tirelessly to preserve Rembrandt’s collection and make it accessible for current and future generations.
Professor van de Wetering made his life’s work to trace, authenticate and preserve all of Rembrandt’s works. His legacy with The Rembrandt Heritage Foundation was to have Rembrandt’s full art collection digitised and remastered, ensuring it remains immortalised. He even recreated the pieces from The Night Watch that were cut off in 1715 and feared lost forever.
Jess Muntenaar, COO at HODL Finance, said: “We are proud that together with The Rembrandt Heritage Foundation, we have digitally reconstructed and captured Rembrandt’s paintings in high definition, and made them accessible to everyone through blockchain ownership. Digitising art is not a replacement for the real thing, but rather a way to preserve art, make it available to everyone, and ensure that Rembrandt will always be there for future generations.”
NFTs cannot be copied, replaced or subdivided, ensuring absolute security and authenticity. Every NFT is recorded in a database (a blockchain) and can be stored for as long as the owner wishes, or sold.
An owner of one of the 8,000 pieces of the Night Watch automatically becomes a founder of the MetaRembrandt Museum. Founders have lifetime access to the museum, and can also ‘rent out’ their NFT, which not only provides a return on investment, but also gives other art lovers the opportunity to gain access to this highly exclusive digital venue.
Pim Slager, co-founder of The Rembrandt Heritage Foundation, says: “The MetaRembrandt Museum is the only place where people can view all the paintings of Rembrandt together and in high definition. I feel honoured that we can now share the life’s work of Rembrandt van Rijn with the whole world.”
For Marcelo Soba
