Lynne and I had the opportunity this week to preview Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus, the new exhibit at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The exhibition was organized by the DIA, the Musée du Louvre, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It opens to the public today, and runs through February 12.
The presentation took me back in time to 17th century Amsterdam, where Rembrandt lived and painted. It also took me back to the first century Holy Land, as the various scenes from Jesus’ life were depicted in etchings, drawings, and paintings. The artwork, borrowed from museums throughout the U.S. and the world (including the Louvre), was absolutely incredible.
I’ve seen a lot of pictures of Jesus in my life that showed Jesus as a blue-eyed blond. Thus, I was pleased to learn that Rembrandt was a pioneer in depicting Jesus with Jewish facial features and coloring. The exhibition of 64 works includes approximately 52 small, intimate paintings, prints and drawings by Rembrandt and his students that illustrate how Rembrandt broke from traditional 17th-century representations of Jesus.
The piece that impacted me the most was the oil painting entitled The Visitation. It depicts the moment that a pregnant Mary arrived to visit her pregnant cousin Elizabeth, and the baby “leaped for joy” in Elizabeth’s womb (Luke 1:39-45). As I gazed at the painting, I was transported back it time.
What an awesome experience!
Here’s a link to The Visitation –
http://www.dia.org/object-info/9ea00bbc-c673-427a-b47f-366499a028db.aspx