Expression of Spiritual or Physical love?
The Jewish Bride
The Jewish Bride is one of the most popular and most fascinating paintings of Rembrandt, which was created back in 1665. However, the painting got its current name after a couple of centuries. In fact, an arts collector in Amsterdam found this painting. He discovered what was depicted in it. In other words, he figured out that this painting is about a Jewish father who is bestowing his daughter with a necklace on her wedding day. As a result, he gave the name “The Jewish Bride” to this painting.
FATHER AND DAUGHTER OR BRIDEGROOM AND BRIDE?
If you take a look at the composition of this painting, you will be able to discover a lot of facts. Basically this is an authentic illustration of a bride. It seems that the artist has taken the concept for this painting directly from Biblical art. If not, he must have had an intimate relationship with the two main subjects. The hand of the man who is depicted on this painting lies on the bosom of the woman. She moves instinctively as a result of it in order to protect her modesty. However, both characters show a sign of tenderness towards each other in this graphical representation.
Some people say that the bridegroom is depicted in this painting, whereas others say that it is the father of the bride. This doesn’t look like a typical seduction theme. Therefore it is somewhat difficult to figure out who exactly is being depicted through the painting.
THEME
The theme of this painting is widely accepted by the modern scholars. On the other hand, the lack of anecdotal context associated with The Jewish Bride has heightened the ambiguity of The Jewish Bride painting. As a result, it has given life to a centralized universal theme. This shows the couple who has fallen in love with each other or it indicates the love between a father and a daughter.
INSPIRED BY…
The Jewish Bride oil painting has heavily been influenced by the experiences of Rembrandt. If it shows two lovers, it has been inspired by the son of Rembrandt, Titus and his bride. On the other hand, if the painting depicts father and daughter, it shows Miguel de Barrios, who is an Amsterdam poet and his daughter. Some expert analysts say that a different couple has been depicted through The Jewish Bride painting, such as Boaz and Ruth or Sarah and Abraham
TECHNIQUE
The paint on the man’s sleeve is so thick that it seems as though Rembrandt used a palette knife to put it on.
As per technical evidences, it has been identified that Rembrandt has wanted to give life to a more elaborated and a larger composition when creating this painting. The way how he has placed his signature at the bottom of the painting is a perfect example to prove the above mentioned fact. The completed composition of this image is an excellent art, which gives life to the best expressions of spiritual and physical love in the painting history. At the moment, The Jewish Bride painting is located at the collection of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.