Rembrandt, The Jews and the Bible

By Franz Landsberger

The author, Dr. Franz Landsberger, himself a fugitive from Nazi terror, wrote this book to share with his readers the solace which he found during the years of persecution in the contemplation of a great artist of Germanic ancestry who had lived for many years among Jews, and who had portrayed them with sympathy. Furthermore, since Rembrandt had always been a devoted reader of the Bible, and one of its most original illustrators, Dr. Landsberger devotes around half of his book to a discussion of Rembrandt’s representation of biblical, or more precisely, Old Testament scenes.

“These considerations influenced me to prepare the following pages, which do not present the whole of Rembrandt, but merely that phase of his life and work which has bearing upon his relation to the Jews and to their Holy Scriptures. This phase, however, should prove the more deeply satisfying to us, because it lay not upon the periphery of his personality, but at its very core. For this reason I offer the present work to the consideration of those who, like myself, aspire to a deeper understanding of the phenomenon that was Rembrandt.” (From the Author’s Foreword)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barakaldo Books
• Release date: May 19, 2020
• ISBN: 9781839744860

Franz Landsberger

Franz Landsberger (1883-1964) was a German-American art historian. Born in Katowice, Upper Silesia, he studied art history, philosophy and literature at the universities of Berlin, Geneva, Munich and Breslau. He received his Ph.D. from Breslau in 1907 and settled there in 1912. He then taught as an associate professor at the University of Wroclaw until 1933. During this time, he published a number of books that showcased his expertise in numerous areas of art, including Wilhelm Tischbein (1908), St. Galler Folchart Psalter (1912), Impressionism and Expressionism (6th ed., 1921), and Vom Wesen der Plastik (1924). In 1935, after his permission to teach was withdrawn from him by the National Socialists, Landsberger was appointed as Director of the Jewish Museum in Berlin. He was particularly affiliated with Max Liebermann, whom he honored with an exhibition in 1936 and the publication of a selection of Liebermann’s letters in 1937. Landsberger was taken to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in 1938, but had a lucky escape to England after a few weeks, thanks to an invitation to teach at Oxford. He then moved from England to the United States, where he was appointed by the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1939. His book 1946 book, History of Jewish Art, and other articles on this specialist topic established him as an authority in this field. FELIX N . GERSON (1862-1945) was an American author and journalist. Born in Philadelphia, he studied civil engineering before changing career and becoming the managing editor of the Chicago Israelite in 1891, and the Jewish Exponent of Philadelphia from 1892. He also served as staff writer on the Public Ledger and contributed prose and verse to magazines and newspapers. Gerson served as secretary and treasurer of the Jewish Exponent Publishing Company, and was a member of the Publication Committee of the Jewish Publication Society of America, and the Dickens Fellowship.

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REMBRANDT, THE JEWS AND THE BIBLE

BY

FRANZ LANDSBERGER

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS 3

DEDICATION 4

FOREWORD 5

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 6

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 7

I—REMBRANDT AND THE JEWS COME TO AMSTERDAM 10

II—REMBRANDT’S PORTRAITS OF JEWS 21

III—REMBRANDT’S SCENES OF JEWISH DAILY LIFE 25

IV—REMBRANDT AND THE BIBLE 25

BIBLIOGRAPHY 25

I. REMBRANDT—LIFE AND ART 25

A. General Works 25

B. Paintings 25

C. Etchings 25

D. Drawings 25

II. THE JEWS IN AMSTERDAM 25

III. REMBRANDT AND THE JEWS 25

IV. REMBRANDT AND THE BIBLE 25

DEDICATION

To

the memory of

Lady Mary

and

Professor Gilbert Murray

who were

True lovers of mankind

FOREWORD

IT has often proved a comfort to me, in this era of European Jewish tragedy, to dwell upon the life and work of Rembrandt. Here was a man of Germanic ancestry who did not regard the Jews in the Holland of his day as a misfortune, but approached them with friendly sentiments, dwelt in their midst, and portrayed their personalities and ways of life. Rembrandt, moreover, regarded the Bible as the greatest Book in the world and held it in reverent affection all his life, in affluence and poverty, in success and failure. He never wearied in his devotion to biblical themes as subjects for his paintings and other graphic presentations, and in these portrayals he was the first to have the courage to use the Jews of his environment as models for the heroes of the sacred narratives.

I have frequently referred to these remarkable facts in lectures delivered in Germany and later in America, and have felt it incumbent upon me to convey to others the solace I experienced in their contemplation. I desired, also, to furnish my coreligionists with an understanding of what Rembrandt had done for them, and to bring to them a recognition of their debt to his art, which was so wide in scope and so rich in spirit.

These considerations influenced me to prepare the following pages, which do not present the whole of Rembrandt, but merely that phase of his life and work which has bearing upon his relation to the Jews and to their Holy Scriptures. This phase, however, should prove the more deeply satisfying to us, because it lay not upon the periphery of his personality, but at its very core. For this reason I offer the present work to the consideration of those who, like myself, aspire to a deeper understanding of the phenomenon that was Rembrandt.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Lady Mary and Professor Gilbert Murray extended to me their gracious hospitality in Oxford, England, during those many months after I had been exiled from Germany and before I could accept the call of the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. To their memory I dedicate this volume as a partial expression of my gratitude.

I extend my thanks also to Doctor Wolfgang Stechow of Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, noted for his extraordinary knowledge of Rembrandt, whose deep interest in this book, while it was in process of preparation, was inspiring and helpful.

The Library of the Hebrew Union College, the Public Library and the Art Museum of Cincinnati were helpful in obtaining the pictures included in this volume. For illustrations 1, 8, 9, 40, 53 and 54, I am indebted to the Rembrandt editions of Bredius and Borenius published by the Phaidon Press in Oxford, to which I extend my heartfelt thanks.

Last but not least, I offer my thanks to The Jewish Publication Society of America and its Publication Committee.

FRANZ LANDSBERGER

Cincinnati

September, 1945

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

1. Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait. 1652. Vienna, Gallery. Painted while living in the Jewish quarter of Amsterdam Frontispiece

2. Rembrandt’s House in the Jewish Quarter of Amsterdam

3. A Circumcision in a Dutch Home. Drawing by Romeyn de Hooghe. 1665. Amsterdam, Rijksprentencabinet

4. Judas Returning the Thirty Pieces of Silver. Painting by Rembrandt. 1629. Lord Moyne Collection

5. Detail of Figure 4

6. Portrait of a Jew. Painting by Rembrandt. Westberlin, Museum in Dahlem

7. Old Man with Red Fur Cap in an Armchair. Painting by Rembrandt. Westberlin, Museum in Dahlem

8. Portrait of a Jew. Painting by Rembrandt. 1654. Gröningen, Museum

9. Ephraim Bonus. Painting by Rembrandt. Amsterdam, F. Mannheimer

10. Ephraim Bonus. Etching by Rembrandt. 1647

11. Ephraim Bonus. Etching by Jan Lievens

12. Manasseh ben Israel. Etching by Rembrandt. 1636

13. Manasseh ben Israel. Engraving by Salom d’Italia. 1642

14. The so-called Jewish Bride. Painting by Rembrandt. Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum

15. The Poet Miguel de Barrios and his Family. Drawing by Aaron de Chaves. Engraving by Ch. v. Hagen

16. Portrait of a Jewish Merchant. Painting by Rembrandt. London, National Gallery

17. An Old Jew at his Study Table. Painting by Rembrandt. 1643. Budapest, Museum of Fine Arts

18. An Oriental Jew." Painting by Rembrandt. 1635. Chatsworth, Duke of Devonshire

19. Portrait of a Jew. Painting by Rembrandt. 1645. Westberlin, Museum in Dahlem

20. Portrait of an Old Jew. Painting by Rembrandt. Leningrad, Hermitage

21. Portrait of an Old Jew. Painting by Rembrandt. 1654. Leningrad, Hermitage

22. Portrait of a Jewish (?) Lady. Painting by Rembrandt. Toronto, Frank P. Wood

23. The Jewish Bride. Drawing by Rembrandt. Stockholm, National Museum

24. The Jewish Bride. Etching by Rembrandt. 1635

25. The Synagogue. Etching by Rembrandt. 1648

26. The Sephardic Synagogue in Amsterdam. Engraving by Romeyn de Hooghe

27. Interior of the Sephardic Synagogue in Amsterdam. Engraving after a drawing by I. Veenhuysen

28. The Synagogue of Ratisbon. Etchings by Albrecht Altdorfer. 1519

29. The Jewish Cemetery. Painting by Jacob Ruisdael. Dresden, Museum

30. Jacob’s Ladder. Etching by Rembrandt for the book Piedra Gloriosa by Manasseh ben Israel. 1655

31. David and Goliath. Etching by Rembrandt for the book Piedra Gloriosa by Manasseh ben Israel. 1655

32. The Vision of Daniel. Etching by Rembrandt for the book Piedra Gloriosa by Manasseh ben Israel. 1655

33. The Vision of Daniel. Engraving by an anonymous artist for the book Piedra Gloriosa by Manasseh ben Israel

34. Rembrandt’s Mother Reading the Bible. Painting by Rembrandt. Wilton House, Earl of Pembroke

35. Jeremiah. Painting by Michelangelo. Rome, Capella Sistina

36. Jeremiah. Painting by Rembrandt. 1630. Stockholm, H. Rasch

37. Jacob Caressing his Son Benjamin. Etching by Rembrandt

38. The Triumph of Mordecai. Etching by Rembrandt

39. The Reconciliation of David and Absalom. Painting by Pieter Lastman. Moscow, Museum of Fine Arts

40. The Reconciliation of David and Absalom. Painting by Rembrandt. 1642. Leningrad, Hermitage

41. Abraham’s Sacrifice. Painting by Rembrandt, 1635. Leningrad, Hermitage

42. Adam and Eve. Etching by Rembrandt. 1638

43. The Vision of Daniel. Drawing by Rembrandt. Paris, Louvre

44. The Vision of Daniel. Painting by Rembrandt. Westberlin, Museum in Dahlem

45. The Dismissal of Hagar. Painting by Rembrandt. 1640. London, Victoria and Albert Museum

46. The Dismissal of Hagar. Etching by Rembrandt. 1637

47. Abraham Entertaining the Three Angels. Etching by Rembrandt. 1656

48. The Finding of the Child Moses. Drawing by Rembrandt. Gröningen, Museum

49. The Farewell of Tobias. Drawing by Rembrandt. Last at New York, Emil Hirsch

50. Tobias and the Angel on the Journey. Drawing by Rembrandt. Vienna, Albertina

51. Samson’s Wedding. Painting by Rembrandt, 1638. Dresden, Museum

52. Samson Threatening his Father-in-Law. Painting by Rembrandt. 163(5). Westberlin, Museum in Dahlem

53. Hannah and Samuel in the Temple of Shiloh. Painting by Rembrandt. 1648. London, Earl of Ellesmere

54. Tobias and his Wife. Painting by Rembrandt. 1626. Paris, Baroness Bentinck-Thyssen

55. Belshazzar’s Feast. Painting by Rembrandt. Knowsley House, Earl of Derby

56. The Blinding of Samson. Painting by Rembrandt. 1636. Frankfurt-on-the-Main, Staedelsches Kunstinstitut

57. The Angel Leaving Tobias and his Family. Painting by Rembrandt. 1637. Paris, Louvre

58. Manoah’s Sacrifice. Painting by Rembrandt. 1641. Dresden, Museum

59. Abraham’s Sacrifice. Etching by Rembrandt. 1655

60. Nathan Reprimanding David. Drawing by Rembrandt. New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

61. Potiphar’s Wife Accusing Joseph. Painting by Rembrandt. 1655. Westberlin, Museum in Dahlem

62. Jacob Blessing his Grandchildren. Painting by Rembrandt. 1656. Cassel, Museum

63. Jacob Wrestling with the Angel. Painting by Rembrandt. Westberlin, Museum in Dahlem

64. Moses Lifting the Tablets of the Law. Painting by Rembrandt. Westberlin, Museum in Dahlem

65. David Playing the Harp before Saul. Painting by Rembrandt. Frankfurt-on-the-Main, Staedelsches Kunstinstitut

66. David Playing the Harp before Saul. Painting by Rembrandt. The Hague, Mauritshuis (lent by A. Bredius)

I—REMBRANDT AND THE JEWS COME TO AMSTERDAM

IN THE year 1606 a son was born to a miller in the city of Leyden, in Holland. He was given the unusual name of Rembrandt. The family already counted a goodly number of children, all of whom grew up to be worthy citizens in their community. One of these became a baker, another a shoemaker. In his boyhood days Rembrandt stood out among his brethren as a young Joseph, the biblical Joseph whose adventures Rembrandt in later years delighted to portray. He was not an especially comely youngster—his rather fleshy nose lending a certain plumpness to his countenance—and one of his first biographers referred to his features as unattractive and plebeian (fig. 1).{1} What was manifest in the boy at an early period was his unusual and vivid intelligence. It was this that impelled his parents to send him to the Latin School, and, seven years later, to enroll him among the students of the University in the city of his birth.

In the Latin School the curriculum included—besides the usual subjects of mathematics, geography and history—courses in Latin, as its name implied. These courses provided not only translation, but the acquisition of Latin as a language to be spoken and written. It was, of course, the language which, at that period, was the universal medium of scholarly intercourse throughout Christendom. Beyond this practical requirement, the knowledge of Latin opened a wide vista of classical culture and revealed a world of heroic deeds, wise thoughts, and poetic fantasies. All this was designed to make a deep impression upon the spirit of a sensitive and aspiring youth, and we find an outcome of these studies in the great number of pagan subjects taken from legendary, poetic and historic sources, which Rembrandt included in his works.

The School’s emphasis on ancient culture was, however, subordinated to studies covering the Christian faith and ideals. Classes were opened with prayer, a chapter from the