The Jewish Bride

A couple, but nobody knows who

A man embraces a woman, his hand resting on her breast, her hand covering his. The title The Jewish Bride was given in the nineteenth century, when a collector thought it showed a Jewish father giving a necklace to his daughter on her wedding day. The real sitters are unknown.

Many scholars think it shows a couple in the guise of biblical figures, possibly Isaac and Rebecca. Rembrandt painted it around 1665 to 1669. It belongs to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

Two faces lost in thought

Neither looks at the other. The man gazes tenderly down; the woman looks into the distance. Their quiet, inward expressions give the scene its feeling of deep intimacy.

Hands that speak

At the centre are their hands: his on her breast, hers resting lightly on his. The gesture is protective and tender rather than possessive. It is the emotional centre of the painting.

Paint laid on with a knife

The man’s golden sleeve is built up with thick paint, perhaps applied with a palette knife, catching light like real embroidery.

The woman’s red dress glows with scraped and layered paint. Van Gogh, seeing it in 1885, said he would give ten years of his life to sit in front of it for a fortnight.

Questions about The Jewish Bride

Who are the couple?

Unknown. They may be a married couple portrayed as Isaac and Rebecca.

Where is it?

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

When was it painted?

Around 1665 to 1669, late in Rembrandt’s life.

What did Van Gogh say?

That he would give ten years of his life to sit before it for two weeks.

Sources and image credit

• Rijksmuseum: Isaac and Rebecca, known as The Jewish Bride
• Wikimedia Commons: Het Joodse bruidje

Public-domain reproduction of The Jewish Bride (about 1665 to 1669), via Wikimedia Commons (Rijksmuseum). Detail images are crops of the same historical painting; no reconstruction or upscaling.