Art Notes: Mysteries within Rembrandt's Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee

Abstract

Art NotesMysteries within Rembrandt's Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee Kathryn Wehr, Managing Editor Rembrandt, Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Isabelle Stewart Gardner Museum This issue's cover art is the subject of a genuine unsolved mystery: it was stolen from the Isabella Steward Gardner Museum in Boston in the early morning hours of March 18, 1990, along with twelve other masterpieces by a variety of artists, including Vermeer and Degas. None has ever been recovered. In 2013 the FBI announced that it knew who was responsible, but further progress has not been made, or at least made public. The heist is commonly thought to have been the work of a Boston organized crime group. Meanwhile, Rembrandt's Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee lives on in the popular imagination in such places as the homes of movie supervillains or in books and documentaries about the theft itself, which is still considered the greatest unsolved art heist of all time. The loss to the world of this particular Rembrandt piece is great. It holds a singular place in his oeuvre as the only known oil seascape. It was painted early in his career (1633) and is an example of the Feinmaler school—of which Rembrandt was the founder in Leiden—where [End Page 168] meticulous detail and invisible brushstrokes give an illusion of reality and a smooth finish.1 His later and more familiar works of the Amsterdam period—such as The Jewish Bride (1665) or The Prodigal Son (1668)—favored the "rough manner" or "painting with splotches," as was also said of the painter who strongly influenced Rembrandt, Titian.2 The early style amazed viewers at close proximity, while the later style, with its layers of splotches, amazed them at a distance. The story behind Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee can be found in the three synoptic Gospels: Matthew 8:23–27, Mark 4:35–41, and Luke 8:22–25. St. Mark supplies the most complete description of the storm itself: "A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. Jesus was in the stern, asleep on the cushion" (4:37–38, NABRE). It is a struggle of men against nature and of fear against trust. As Michael Zell writes, The panic-stricken disciples struggle against a sudden storm, and fight to regain control of their fishing boat as a huge wave crashes over its bow, ripping the sail and drawing the craft perilously close to the rocks in the left foreground. One of the disciples succumbs to the sea's violence by vomiting over the side. Amidst this chaos, only Christ, at the right, remains calm, like the eye of the storm. Awakened by the disciples' desperate pleas for help, he rebukes them: "Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?"3 This scene has been depicted by many artists throughout the centuries, though most depict Christ either still asleep or commanding the sea: "Quiet! Be still!" (Mk 4:39). Yet here Rembrandt paints Christ in the moment in between: awake but calm, while all around him are in panic. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke have the disciples exclaiming that they are perishing, but John Walsh suggests that Rembrandt relies upon St. Mark's inclusion of a disciple's desperate plea, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" (Mk 4:38), as can be seen by the disciple clutching at Christ's robe contrasted with Jesus's calm look.4 The painting technique is meticulous. The ship itself is modeled [End Page 169] on a Dutch fishing boat called a hoeker and shows some influence from a similar scene by Maerten de Vos.5 A keen sailor's eye, however, will notice some inaccuracies in the way Rembrandt put the rigging and sails together.6 Walsh writes, "These errors … have clear dramatic purposes; they emphasize the raw physical struggle; and they create the upward spiral of form, carried further by the whiplash of the loose stay, that expresses the disruptive force of nature that only God...