Tikvah
Editors’ Pick

November 14, 2024

How Rembrandt’s Christian Art Made Room for Jewish Difference

The painter’s vision of tolerance.

In 2017, Mosaic published a series of articles on Rembrandt van Rijn and his artistic portrayals of both biblical and contemporary Jews. William Kolbrener takes a look at another painting, of the prophet Samuel and his mother Hannah, and explains how it embodies the great Dutch artist’s tolerant understanding of Christianity and his ability to incorporate and appreciate Jewish difference—an attitude sorely lacking in Rembrandt’s homeland today. (Video, 5 minutes.)

SaveGift