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The Native Tourist
reformed/biblical observations on Christianity and culture

Tuesday, July 18, 2006
A Little Bit More on Rembrandt
One of the books I was asked to read in art history grad school was W. A. Visser’t Hooft's Rembrandt and the Gospel. It is a modest little paperback but is a marvelous read and has some interesting speculation about RVR's religious beliefs: Visser’t Hooft argues that RVR was a "generic protestant" and "biblcial" Christian, not committed to either the Reformed or the Mennonite communities (though he was clearly influenced by both). One can not underestimate his interaction with the Jewish community in Amsterdam, which gave Rembrandt a deeper insight into the Old Testament.

This article on RVR's hometown of Leiden is also really good.