What's in a Grasp?

摘要

A peculiar detail in the famous painting The Night Watch shows that Rembrandt van Rijn was not only a great painter but also an astute observer of human behavior. Off to the left of center, half in shadow, stands a red-uniformed guard who holds the ramrod for his musket in an uncomfortable-looking, thumb-down position. Why did Rembrandt pose the guard this way? A thumb-up posture would have probably allowed the guard to have greater power and more control. But there is another consideration: a thumb-down posture would put the guard in a stronger or more resolute-looking pose when he withdrew the rod from the barrel.