 – Going on view Saturday, September 20, 2025 at the North Carolina Museum of Art is the exhibition, “The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt”…){kind=link}
RALEIGH, NC (PNAN) – Going on view Saturday, September 20, 2025 at the North Carolina Museum of Art is the exhibition, “The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt” which is co-curated by Abigail Rapoport, curator of Judaica at the Jewish Museum, and Michele L. Frederick, curator of European art at the NCMA.
The exhibition showcases the titular biblical story’s impact on the visual and popular culture of 17th-century Holland through more than 120 paintings, prints, drawings, decorative art and ceremonial objects from collections across the world that transformed Queen Esther into a new heroine for a new century.
In the age of Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), the biblical Book of Esther was a key source of inspiration for diverse communities in Holland, both Jewish and Christian. Traditionally, the Esther story is read annually on the Jewish holiday of Purim. For immigrant Jewish communities living with new freedom in more tolerant Amsterdam, celebrating Purim—notably through finely produced.
Esther scrolls and theater productions became meaningful expressions of Jewish culture. For the Dutch, Queen Esther’s heroism came to represent their emerging nation’s identity. Rembrandt and his contemporaries depicted essential scenes of Esther’s story in paintings, prints, drawings, and decorative arts. This exhibition gives expression to this full range of the Book of Esther’s popularity and meaning in Rembrandt’s time.
“We are proud to present an exhibition that continues our longstanding relationship with the Jewish Museum, which has supported our Judaic galleries with several key loans from their collection since 2010,” said NCMA Director Valerie Hillings.
‘The Book of Esther’ makes stops at its two co-organizing institutions before a final run at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston in August 2026. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3vIC-sVrzc&t=63s