By Paul G. Chandler - September 19, 2024.
Rembrandt van Rijn, Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, 1630, oil on panel, 58cm × 46cm
If one listens carefully to the voices around us at this time, one may often hear a significant amount of lamenting. Lamenting what has happened to the country. Lamenting the tragedy of the seemingly never-ending conflict in Gaza. Lamenting the state of our world. Lamenting the introduction of AI. Lamenting the impact of social media and mobile phones on young people. Some even find themselves lamenting their own life situations. And the list goes on and on.
One of the 17th century Dutch artist Rembrandt’s most powerful paintings is of the prophet Jeremiah (أرميا / Armaya in Arabic, and Yirmeyahu in Hebrew). Rembrandt’s painting is titled, “Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem.” Housed today at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, it is considered one of Rembrandt’s early masterpieces. Many scholars consider Rembrandt’s sorrowful Jeremiah to be one of his best works.
Rembrandt was a master of contrasting light and darkness on canvas. In this particular painting, we see on the left side, in the dark surrounding background, the city of Jerusalem burning. Looking closely, the viewer will see the king staggering by with his eyes just gouged out, after witnessing the murder of his family. It is a scene of deep misery and profound despair.
At the same time, Jeremiah, is pictured sitting in the foreground, with his hand on his head, lamenting, and in anguish. While Jeremiah was not a frequent subject among artists at the time, there was a custom of portraying him as a figure experiencing sorrow. This is the case for Jeremiah in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel frescoes (1508–12). However, Rembrandt positioned Jeremiah in a broader story, fusing cultural lore - of the Babylonian king who destroyed Jerusalem, with an account from the Roman historian Flavius Josephus (c. 94 CE), in which Jeremiah salvages some valuables from the Temple of Solomon before its destruction. He runs to hide, ends up in a cave, and preserves a sacred text and some metalware from the temple. This is context in which Rembrandt paints Jeremiah.
Rembrandt is renowned for being able to express a figure’s emotional state of being. In this painting, the viewer immediately singles out Jeremiah’s face. Rembrandt evidently used an old man as his model for Jeremiah, the same old man seen in etchings that have also been preserved (see below). Jeremiah is presented by the artist as deeply melancholic, immediately evoking the imagination of his larger story.
Rembrandt brilliantly captures Jeremiah’s lamenting, the depths of his soul. There was a common belief among painters up to Rembrandt’s time, that for historical scenes, what is going on inside the subject should be expressed through the movements of the body. During Rembrandt’s time, this emotional expressiveness theatrically comes fully into its own. Hence, just the way in which Rembrandt paints Jeremiah’s posture elicits the despair he is experiencing. He creates the impression that Jeremiah’s sorrow is unfathomable.
At the same time, Jeremiah is bathed in the brightest light. Known as a “painter of light,” Rembrandt artistically points a spotlight on Jeremiah, masterfully illuminating Jeremiah’s face. Rembrandt was also known as a painter of emotions, and developed a reputation for being able to depict profound feelings. Rembrandt’s use of brushwork on Jeremiah’s face plays a distinct role in this painting. He is concerned with more than just portraying a figure accurately. He is trying to accomplish something unique through the paint itself. The way in which he layers the bright parts with thick impasto, albeit still slight, is markedly thicker than in the darker parts. This technique causes the paint surface to be shinier, casting even more light.
In this remarkable painting, Rembrandt has captured the two themes of Jeremiah’s life - for it is about both the deepest discouragement (or darkness) that one can ever experience, and also at the same time about the most profound hope (the brightest light) provided to us by the Divine Artist - a light that shines in the darkness, which the darkness does not overcome.
Jeremiah’s life story is about living within the paradox of hardship and hope. From the information we have about Jeremiah’s life, it is clear, that from start to finish, he was torn apart by inner struggle, external strife, and life’s uncertainty. His life experience could be compared to a roller coaster – forever hurling up and down. Throughout his writings we witness the wild fluctuation of his emotions. Jeremiah’s writings represent a new literary genre of his era, as they contain not only his conversations with his people, but also his inner conversations with his Creator. He is brutally honest about all his travails. He actually goes through life shedding tears – both because of what he was personally facing in life, and what was being experienced in the world around him. He is actually known as the "weeping prophet,” and how true this literally. was.
Jeremiah’s life was full of emotional turmoil. He was capable of soaring high in his journey with his Creator, and yet he also knew times of deep depression, when he actually accused his Creator as being unreliable. He became so low emotionally that he cursed the day he was born, and cursed his parents who had brought him into the world. The list of difficulties he experienced is overwhelming. He was from a disrespected village. He underwent severe deprivation. He was put in stocks and beaten. He was put into prison for 10 years. He was thrown down a cistern. At the age of 60 he was taken to Egypt against his will. He experienced rejection by everyone – from family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, his audience, the king. He felt tremendously alone.
There is no question that Jeremiah reminds us that life is not without hardship. He is therefore someone we can identify with. If we use a “zoom lens” on Jeremiah’s life experience, and focus in closely, asking why his life was so challenging and filled with such emotion, we are able to understand the source for his hardship.
One reason was Jeremiah’s perception of himself. He tended to question himself, right from the outset. At the beginning of his writings, in the book titled by his name, he quotes his Creator as saying to him, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you; I appointed you. . .” Yet Jeremiah had trouble believing this. The image he had of himself was much less than this, and this led him to respond to God with a deep sense of inadequacy for what he believed was his vocation.
At the same time, throughout Jeremiah’s writings, we see him repeatedly sharing beautiful promises from his Creator. After a lengthy time of hardship, Jeremiah shares a very personal promise: "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah reminds us that the Divine Artist delights in us during every phase of life, regardless of what the external picture looks like. Seeing ourselves as the Divine Artist sees us, at the deepest level of our being, is absolutely foundational to any spiritual journey.
Jeremiah’s sense of lament also related to the particular time in which he lived. He happened to be born in the era when the Babylonians conquered his nation, destroyed their cultural center and captured their king. It was a horrible period to have to live through. On top of this, a great sense of unreality pervaded his country at the time. Jeremiah, who was extremely perceptive, was often unpopular because he described reality as it truly was – i.e. that the rampant injustices of their court system and marketplace had corroded the very foundations of their society.
As Rembrandt’s painting so powerfully illustrates for us - there is no way anyone, let alone Jeremiah, could have lived through the disintegration of his society without experiencing a deep sense of agony. Before Jeremiah’s weeping eyes, his country and culture came to a tragic end. Starting around 597 BCE, its people were deported, exiled, and their kingdom demolished.
However, this is not where things ended for Jeremiah. Quite remarkably, his writings become hopeful. Out of Jeremiah’s own personal pain, a magnificent hope was born, for a new vision that could emerge out of that hardship. As all seemed to collapse around him, Jeremiah does a symbolic visible act for all to see that brought light to their present darkness, to illustrate divine hope. Jeremiah goes to a potter’s house and observes how the artist patiently shaped and then remade the same clay until at last he had the vessel as he wanted it. Jeremiah then says, “We are in God’s hands, just like clay in the hands of the potter, and those hands are hands of mercy. . .” Jeremiah emphasizes that we are all the loved creation of a merciful Creator, and regardless of the hardships, that we will never be ultimately torn down.
Rembrandt’s depiction of Jeremiah’s clothing is quite an intriguing aspect of this painting. There is much more to it than the observation of the subtle variances in the fabric. Interestingly, the fur-lined garment he’s wearing is not of Jeremiah’s era, but rather of the 17th century, Rembrandt’s own time. Rembrandt is perhaps suggesting that Jeremiah’s pain is universal, and is experienced by all at one time or another.
This also means that the hope that Jeremiah lifts up for himself and others, is also universal, and is on offer to each and every one of us. Yes, the struggles of life ebb and flow, but the merciful faithfulness of the Divine Artist in our lives provides the greatest hope that is ever needed. Out of the ups and downs of life, both now and in the future, may we hold onto Jeremiah’s invitation to hope.