28|REPORTAJE Lighting REMbRAnDt’s thE night WAtch In 2011, the Rijksmuseum and Philips partnered to light Rembrandt’s “The Night Watch”, one of the most famous paintings in the world and a major draw for the museum. Philips and the Rijksmuseum used the oppor- tunity as a prototype trial of lighting painting masterpieces with LED technology. Traditionally, museum lighting has relied on incandescent halogen lamps to illuminate artwork. While incan- descent lighting beautifully renders red and warm tones, this warmth often comes at the expense of rendering blues and greens: The art takes on a heavy amber tint, and does not show the richness of the full color palette. This amber tint is exaggerated even further when incandescent lamps are dimmed to maintain conservation standards for light levels. One of the specific lighting choices made in the New Rijksmuseum was to shift the color temperature to slightly crisper, more neutral white light, in order to remove the heavy amber tint that is characteristic of con- ventional museum lighting. The color temperature simply refers to whether white light appears warm (reddish), neutral or cool (bluish) which effects how the painting appears to the visitor. Philips latest LED lighting used at the museum also offers two more distinct advantages: First, these LEDs per- mit a much more balanced light spectrum than was until now possible. Good LED lighting maintains the much sought-after appearance of warmth for the reds and yellows, while rendering the blues and greens equally well. Secondly, LEDs do not shift color when dimmed, maintaining a highly consistent presentation of the artwork throughout the museum. The quality of the light is such that a greater range of color is visible, that can be described as an effect similar to viewing the painting in “high definition”.