The Night Watch

The Night Watch by Rembrandt (1642)

Sleep hygiene is a phrase that’s sometimes used to refer to nocturnal habits. Of course there are those who work nights, for instance, soldiers on the lookout for the enemy. Your doctor may have arranged for you to go to a clinic where they hook you up and test for things like sleep apnea but there is another kind of sleeplessness--the physical manifestation of a metaphysical plight. "The Night Watch" is one of Rembrandt’s most famous paintings. The subject is a group of men, what sixties radicals would have called The Establishment. But when you think of it, the title is resonant of the very things that might keep people up. It’s hard to sleep when you feel your world is falling apart. Is that what Rembrandt was thinking about when he produced his great masterpiece? Probably not. He was plainly interested in applying paint and that task was so all encompassing, there was little time left to the think. No it’s unlikely Rembrandt tossed and turned. When you look at "The Night Watch," you'll likely conclude, the artist got a good night’s sleep.

read "Luggage Tags" by Francis Levy, The East Hampton Star

and read "The El" by Francis Levy, The East Hampton Star

and also read "Punk" by Francis Levy, Vol.1 Brooklyn