The exhibition Rembrandt et la Bible. Gravure divine is a collaboration between the Musée d’art et d’histoire (MAH) and the Musée International de la Réforme (MIR). A total of 72 works are brought together for the first time.
This group represents many of the 89 religious scenes engraved by the painter. Of the 314 prints Rembrandt made, 89 have a religious theme.
In addition to Biblical episodes, there are portraits of St Jerome, several Virgins with child, depictions of the Holy Family, the death of the Virgin and a portrait of women reading the Bible. The exhibition shows several variations of the same theme.
The exhibition design considers the medium Rembrandt used and is inspired by his studio in Amsterdam. The exhibition follows the chronology of the Bible, with texts from the Old and New Testament near the works, allowing visitors to see which episodes from the Bible Rembrandt selected and how he treated them.
His Biblical episodes are varied, and the realism of the characters can be interpreted as a desire to involve everyone in the events of the sacred story.
Rembrandt immortalised his family, neighbours and the people he encountered in 17th-century Amsterdam as models for his depictions. Because most of the engravings are small, the scenography unfolds by creating numerous enlargements of details.
The exhibition is divided into five rooms, including the religious context in Amsterdam, followed by a room combining biographical, historical and artistic chronologies, a printing press to print the details of the Rembrandt engravings on display, and a film explaining the etching technique used by the artist.