Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus, Detroit Institute of Arts, through February 12th, by Daniel B. Gallagher

Since fully reopening five years ago after a magnificent renovation and expansion project, the Detroit Institute of Arts has emerged as the premier institution when it comes to displaying and labelling artworks for the twenty-first-century public. Pieces in the permanent collection are labeled with clear, concise descriptions that encourage visitors to look closely but to think for themselves. They provide essential information without insulting the viewer’s intelligence. It is not uncommon to see complete strangers, often with disparate backgrounds in art, standing in front of a picture and discussing it at length. You cannot help but come away from the DIA feeling you have engaged art rather than having absorbed a lot of information about art.

The DIA’s forte is no less apparent in Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus. The instalment is arranged with noble simplicity, putting all the focus on the viewing experience. Behind the economy of presentation lies an enormous amount of preparation. Mr. Salvador Salort-Pons, Curator of European Paintings, brought together art historians with Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish theologians to design an exhibition that would explore Rembrandt’s influence on the way we visualize Jesus from—literally—every angle.

The show debuted in Paris and ran in Philadelphia before moving to the Motor City, where it has met an enthusiastic response. And rightly so. Visitors have the privilege not only of seeing the “faces” of Christ that form the centerpiece of the exhibit, but also some of the most exquisite etchings and paintings ever produced. TheHundred Guilder Print, the Woman Caught in Adultery, the Visitation, and the Louvre’s Supper at Emmaus are just a few of the gems one can admire at close range (no barriers and no alarms). The six faces of Jesus, three of which are on American soil for the first time, have been conventionally catalogued as Andachtsbildes (images for private devotion), though their original purpose remains a topic of lively debate. Rembrandt broke from his predecessors and contemporaries by depicting Christ not as the divine Apollo but as a simple Nazarene, venerable not only in his passion and death but in his daily life.

The-hundred-guilder-print-chri
Rembrandt van Rijn, The Hundred Guilder Print c. 1649, etching, engraving, and drypoint on paper. The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Read the full review
 on the Berkshire Review, an International Journal for the Arts!