Rembrandts in the Hermitage

Portraits by Rembrandt In the Hermitage July 30, 1996

Rhea and I like to travel and, after many excursions through Western Europe, Russia became very attractive. St. Petersburg is an obvious item on a Russian itinerary and in due course, we arrived there. There is much to enjoy and we quickly found the Hermitage. We were enthralled and overwhelmed by the huge collection of first-rate art. It was so enjoyable that we returned, primarily to spend time at the Hermitage.

The Hermitage, is one of the worlds greatest fine arts museums. It contains the priceless of Imperial Russia. The splendor of its collections is superbly comple­mented by their presentation in what is unquestionably the finest setting for fine arts in the world - the Winter Palace on the River Neva that Catherine the Great called her Hermitage.

Peter the Great was the initial collector. His observations of princely establish­ments during his peregrinations in Western Europe persuaded him that the embellishment of a royal palace required lavish application of the fine arts. Paintings were a necessary part of the decor. But, he was hampered by not being a connoisseur so his earliest instruc­tions to his agents were to "buy only good stuff". They did and in so doing laid the foundation for the present collection.

His daughter Elizabeth, after several intervening rulers, became Czarina in 1741. She commissioned the building of a palace on the Neva River to be her winter residence. This was a sumptuous structure and became the nucleus of what in the hands of Catherine the Great became the Winter Palace that she called her "Hermitage". Catherine was a connoisseur and she actively collected the best of western art her agents could find. And find, they did.

Among the present day holdings is the second largest number of Rembrandts of any museum in the world even after the sale of ten Rembrandts during the 19th century. Only the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam today has more. Jay Richard Judson in his Encyclopedia Britannica (15th Edition) article on Rembrandt includes six of those in the Hermitage in his list of "major works". That portion of the list dealing with paintings has three categories: Portraits, Religious, and Allegories and the first contains only one entry, Portrait of Saskia as Flora. It is one of Rembrandt's early mature works and represents his wife as the Goddess of Flowers. It is a splendid work and I would be disinclined to say it should not be on the list.

At his best a critic (of the fine arts in this instance) is an educator. He places the object under consideration in perspective with respect to others of its kind. He points out its essential features and how they fuse to create the whole that in any great work of art is more than the sum of its parts. Palladian villas are much more than their fenestration. But, that student is neglectful who suppres­ses his own judgment. If the teacher is never questioned a substantial portion of the education will be lost. It is in this spirit that I would respectfully question Mr. Judson, whose illuminating article added much to my education.

In the Hermitage collection are three oils of overwhelming power. One is the Sacrifice of Abraham that is included in the religious category and two portraits that are not. It is their omission that I would question. They are titled Portrait of an Old Man in Red and Portrait of an Old Jew. Surely, these two must be among the finest portraits Rembrandt ever painted. Both are products of his later years, fairly large and like many of his later works these have the typical deep chiaroscuro. Except for the face and hands, which glow in a soft light, the paintings are thick with shadows.

The Sacrifice of Abraham was painted the year after the portrait of Saskia as Flora and has the raw power of youth. It has the impact of a blow, literally. Isaac lies on the ground, arms bound. Abraham holds Isaac's head back with his hand fully covering his face. The knife is held aloft ready to fulfil the command of the Lord. It is just barely stayed by the angel. The unwavering brutality of the manner in which Abraham forces Isaac's head back while hiding his face is central to the concept of the painting and is awesome. Unless the artist has left notes one can never know with certainty precisely what he had in mind. Perhaps what Rembrandt meant to portray was the steadfastness of Abraham's adherence to the mandate of the Lord yet trying to avoid looking at the face of the son he was about to sacrifice. Whatever the intent the emotional impact is naked and direct.

Of a different order entirely are the Portrait of an Old Man in Red and Portrait of an Old Jew. The impact is not as immediate; if one is distracted one might easily walk by. If one stops, however, one is seized - transfixed. The impact then builds like a tide and becomes overwhelming. One has no choice but to remain.

Over the course of his lifetime Rembrandt painted many self-portraits and as he grew older the face he depicted evolved from that of a confidant, vigorous individual fully in control of his destiny to one who has suffered the injuries that life can inflict. A certain weariness, sadness, and, above all, resignation becme more and more pronounced. It is precisely these charac­teristics that are the poignant, central aspects of these two portraits. One can only conclude that both are self-por­traits. The first is obviously a psychological self-portrait and the second, the Portrait of an Old Jew, is the same with the added burden of the Eternal Outcast.

Because Mr. Judson's article was simultaneously so impressive and pleasurable to read, I found that the disparity of judgment of these two portraits by Mr. Judson and myself puzzling. It would seem to reside in an essential limitation of the critical art.. The impression these portraits made on me was clearly very particular and private. They had a lesser impact on Mr. Judson. Anyone experien­cing a work of art is constrained by a personal and private template. No two templates can be alike. Each is constructed by one's life experience to that instant. If, for instance, it is a painting that is being viewed, every painting he has ever seen and everything relevant he has ever read or heard or seen have preconditioned the viewer. He judges, evaluates, measures, likes, or dislikes within the confines of this back­ground. The personal template varies dramatically as one ages. A teenager, not possessed of musical talent will probably be seriously bored by one of Bach's suites for unaccom­panied cello and some years later, suitably conditioned, might sit entranced through its complete performance.