"Rembrandt and Jesus' at the Art Museum (1st review)

As its title proclaims, "Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus" is a focused exhibition. Rather than taking in the whole of the man's career and offering examples of every genre that he worked in— which in the case of an artist of Rembrandt's stature would be nearly impossible—this show considers one type of his work— religious art— then further limits it to works depicting Jesus. But it is this very limitation that allows us to see the man's offbeat greatness.

The "Lentulus Letter," a pious fraud from the Middle Ages, described the man Jesus as having "hair the color of a ripe hazel-nut" and a reddish complexion— in short, a good Northern burger. And while Hitler may have famously believed that Christ was an Aryan who somehow turned up in First Century Galilee, most people would grant that he was Semitic.

Unfortunately, the artists are not "most people," and so for much of artistic history we get a veritable procession of fair-haired, fair-skinned Christs traipsing about. Jan Pynas, who may have instructed Rembrandt, offers a Rising of Lazarus that contains all the conviction of a grade-school religious pageant, while Cornelis van Haarlem paints a Man of Sorrows whose greatest sorrow appears to be a pair of too-tight shoes.

Jewish Christs

Rembrandt lived in Vrooienburg, the Jewish quarter of Amsterdam, and he took his models where he found them. His Christs aren't affable, but they are powerful. These dark-haired, dark-complexioned Christs have "The Other" stamped all over them.

Rembrandt's Raising of Lazarus is a study of power (the awful sight of the corpse jerking itself free from the grave was so powerful that, several centuries later, Van Gogh felt the urge to copy it.) In one of his several versions of Christ Preaching, he depicts Christ as a hooded figure, radiating mystery.

The show offers various "motif series": We see nine different Head of Jesus paintings in one section, and a variety of The Supper at Emmaus (Rembrandt's favorite Bible story), rendered by Rembrandt as well as several of his pupils. Christ Preaching— the famous "Hundred Guilder Print"— is also exhibited in several versions and variations.

I should add that, although the paintings will naturally command your attention, you should in no way neglect the drawings and etchings. Rembrandt's drawings possess an amazing vitality.

They also depict the artist's growth. His Christ before Pilate (1636) is a grand theatrical piece— all exotic costumes and impressive props. And who the heck is the guy peeking out of the window?

But Christ Presented to the People, painted in the 1650s, is altogether different. It should appear more theatrical, since it's a head-on depiction of the scene and Pilate's palace is rendered almost like a stage set; but the opulent costumes and the accumulation of detail are now replaced by stark simplicity. Instead of a history lesson, we get a timeless bit of human drama.

The burden of stature

You don't generally have the opportunity to see works by Rembrandt, so for that reason alone this show commands attention. Rembrandt's reputation has risen and fallen almost as often as the stock market. The Classicists used him as a model of excess to be avoided at all costs; then the Romantics lauded him as a rebel genius.

Today it's hard to say where Rembrandt stands. He's simultaneously dated and timeless. His status as a great name in Art may be a stake pinning him to earth.

I can only say: If you don't like his paintings, try his works on paper. If the works on paper leave you cold, try the paintings. Whether he was depicting the face of Christ or the face of a beggar woman, nobody did it quite like Rembrandt.♦


To read another review by Anne R. Fabbri, click here.
To read another review by Robert Zaller, click here.