NEW After hearing thousands of last words, this hospital chaplain has advice for the living
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
Rembrandt van Rijn's iconic painting "The Night Watch" will be restretched to get rid of deformations in its top left corner, the Netherlands' national museum announced Wednesday.
The 379.5x453.5-centimetre (149.4x178.5-inch) canvas will be removed from its wooden stretcher next month and placed on a new one to remove rippling that was caused when the world famous painting was housed in a temporary gallery while the Rijksmuseum underwent major renovations from 2003-2013.
The oil on canvas painting depicts an Amsterdam civil militia and shows off Rembrandt's renowned use of light and composition to create a dynamic scene filled with characters.
The museum said the ripples were likely caused by "excessive climatic fluctuations in the gallery" where it hung during the rebuilding work on its landmark home in Amsterdam.
"We feel this is very important to do to for the long term preservation of the painting. The deformation (is) then expected to relax and the painting then will assume a flatter, more even surface," said Petria Noble, the museum's head of paintings conservation.
The painting has undergone many restorations over its lifetime. It was placed on its present wooden stretcher in 1975. Once the painting has been restretched, the museum will decide on whether further restoration work is needed.
The announcement came as the museum rounded off a long and minutely detailed scrutiny of the painting using a battery of high-tech imaging technology, including scans that revealed a preparatory sketch of the work underneath the paint.
"It gives us the feeling we can peek over Rembrandt's shoulder while he was working on `The Night Watch,"' said Pieter Roelofs, the museum's head of paintings and sculpture.
Experts had long suspected that Rembrandt sketched the work before painting it in 1642. Now they have the proof.
"This gives us real insight into Rembrandt's creative process for the first time. It is fascinating to see how he's searched for the right composition," Roelofs said. "We've discovered the origins of `The Night Watch."'
The museum said that much of the painting remains in excellent condition, while some areas are "in poor repair, partly as a result of the many treatments 'The Night Watch' has undergone since the 17th century." It added that past removal of varnish likely led to paint dissolving on parts of the work.
The Dutch government announced Wednesday that it plans to buy another Rembrandt masterpiece, "The Standard Bearer," from a private collection in France.
The ministry for education, culture and science sent a budget amendment to parliament seeking lawmakers' backing to spend 150 million euros (US$169 million) on the painting, which would hang near "The Night Watch" at the Rijksmuseum. The country's Rembrandt Association will also help fund the purchase with a donation of 15 million euros ($16.9 million) and the Rijksmuseum Fund will add 10 million euros ($11.2 million), the ministry said in a statement.
For Rijksmuseum Director Taco Dibbits, it is a dream come true to acquire a painting seen as a key moment in the Dutch master's development as an artist.
"The quality and the fact that this painting marks Rembrandt's artistic breakthrough makes it an unparalleled work by the master: Rembrandt became Rembrandt!" he said in a statement.
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
French police cordoned off the Iranian consulate in Paris on Friday, where a man was threatening to blow himself up, Europe 1 radio and BFM TV.
More money will land in the pockets of some Canadian families on Friday for the latest Canada Child Benefit installment.
An apparent Israeli drone attack on Iran saw troops fire air defences at a major air base and a nuclear site early Friday morning near the central city of Isfahan, an assault coming in retaliation for Tehran's unprecedented drone-and-missile assault on the country.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Canadian banks that refuse to identify the carbon rebate by name when doing direct deposits are forcing the government to change the law to make them do it, says Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.
A woman who recently moved to Canada from India was searching for a job when she got caught in an online job scam and lost $15,000.
The World Health Organization and around 500 experts have agreed for the first time on what it means for a disease to spread through the air, in a bid to avoid the confusion early in the COVID-19 pandemic that some scientists have said cost lives.
Prince Harry, the son of King Charles III and fifth in line to the British throne, has formally confirmed he is now a U.S. resident.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a grade four student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.
While many people choose to keep their medical appointments private, four longtime friends decided to undergo vasectomies as a group in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.