The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt

In Rembrandt’s Holland the story of Jewish heroine Esther was popular with audiences of many faiths. Bringing together depictions in Dutch paintings, tapestries, decorative arts, and Jewish ceremonial objects, the exhibition shines light on the ways in which one heroine’s triumph of bravery has inspired people across time and place.

In the age of Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–69), the biblical Book of Esther was a key source of inspiration for diverse communities in Holland, both Jewish and Christian. The story recounts Queen Esther’s heroic salvation of the Jewish people from near annihilation in ancient Persia. Esther has long been held in Jewish tradition as the quintessential heroine and has been a subject in Christian art for hundreds of years.

This exhibition, organized into the six thematic sections detailed below, explores how different artists, patrons, and audiences in Rembrandt’s time fashioned their own imagery from this story.

The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt was co-organized by the Jewish Museum, New York, and the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website

​Image credit:  Jan Lievens, The Feast of Esther, circa 1625, oil on canvas, 51 1/2 × 64 1/2 in., North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, Purchased with funds from the State of North Carolina