‘Rembrandt and the Jews’ focuses on interpretations of biblical prints by artist

By Kelly Marino
Staff Reporter

The department of art and art history and the Nancy Quarles Stuck Art Institute Lecture Fund presented a free lecture Monday by Shelley Perlove, a professor of art history at the Univesity of Michigan at Dearborn. The speech, titled “Rembrandt and the Jews,” focused on interpretations of various biblical prints by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn.

Babette Bohn, an assistant art history professor, said the fund enables the art department to present one or two lectures a year on interesting topics, so the department picked a subject that pertains to art history and religion.

“I knew that Perlove was an excellent speaker, and I think she was able to explain what others don’t fully understand about Rembrandt and the Jewish community in Amsterdam,” Bohn said.

Anne Helmreich, assistant professor in art history, said Perlove was able to create a connection between history, religion and art.

“My favorite interpretation by Perlove was over the ‘Faust’ etching,” said Helmreich. “I felt her explanation was very strong and convincing, and I was excited to listen and learn more about it.”

Suzanne Akhtar, an adjunct instructor in art history, said she encouraged her students to attend the lecture so they could better understand how art historians do their research and add to historical knowledge in general.

“You can always look at a painting and enjoy it but it often means a lot more when you know the background of the painting and the different layers of meaning,” Akhtar said. “Perlove only showed a few paintings by Rembrandt, but she was able to offer some deep insight to what was behind his paintings.”

Rembrandt was a Dutch artist who is ranked as one of the greatest painters in the history of Western art. His greatest works consist of self-portraits, portrayals of single figures and groups and historical and religious works which reveal a concern with mood and spiritual quality.

Perlove said Rembrandt’s works had two main goals which consisted of the unification of the Christians and the conversion of the Jews.

“I believe he had a personal affection for the Jews,” Perlove said during her lecture. “He was inspired by an angelic motivation to form a religion and convert the Jews.”

Perlove is a scholar and a teacher who specializes in the Baroque and Renaissance periods. She has written two books about Rembrandt, as well as many articles and essays on 17th century art in Italy and northern Europe.

Kelly Marino
k.a.marino@student.tcu.edu