Banquet of Esther, Ahasuerus and Haman c. 1665

Rembrandt van Rijn sketched this pen and brown ink drawing of the Banquet of Esther, Ahasuerus and Haman, in the Dutch Republic. The story comes from the Hebrew Bible, in which Esther, a Jew, reveals to her husband, King Ahasuerus of Persia, that his advisor Haman is plotting to kill all the Jews in the kingdom. The tale speaks of a minority group threatened by political events, and it may be that Rembrandt saw parallels between this story and the social tensions of his own time. It’s interesting to note that the artist made this drawing at a time when Dutch society was becoming increasingly tolerant of different religious beliefs, though the position of Jewish people was still precarious. To gain a full appreciation of this work, we might explore the history of Jewish communities in the Dutch Republic and Rembrandt's relationships with them. Such research can reveal how historical context shapes the meaning and impact of art.