Research and restoration begins on Rembrandt’s Night Watch

Researchers and restorers at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam say a project using high-tech imaging technology will throw new light on Rembrandt's masterpiece Night Watch.

Working in a specially designed glass chamber, researchers at the Dutch museum are launching a painstaking examination and restoration of the huge portrait of a 17th-century civil militia.

Art lovers around the world can follow the project on a digital platform.

The museum's general director, Taco Dibbits, said the painting "belongs to us all, and that is why we have decided to conduct the restoration within the museum itself - and everyone, wherever they are, will be able to follow the process online".

The 1642 painting last underwent restoration 40 years ago and is starting to show blanching in parts of the canvas.