Was Rembrandt “One of ours”? How The Dutch Genius Became a Jew of Honor
ushi
July 13, 2020
“Though Rembrandt was not Jewish, we must consider him as “a Jew of honor”, for his love and empathy towards the Jews”, the national poet Bialik wrote in 1932, in a preface he contributed to the Jewish painter Leonid Pasternak’s book on the art of Rembrandt. Bialik also noted that “this gifted genius has miraculously grasped and seized the core of the Hebrew soul, like no other gentile painter has ever succeeded to do.” Bialik was not the only admirer of the outstanding Dutch painter. He is the most mentioned artist in Hebrew literature, referred to in stories by Agnon;[]
