Daily Podcasts Video Research

Purim Illuminated

JL;DR SUMMARY The exhibition "The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt" at the Jewish Museum offers a captivating exploration of Queen Esther's influence on 17th-century Dutch art and society. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

JL;DR members get full summaries of all articles in the archive, including this one. Donate & start reading »

Tags

PurimJewish MuseumConversosMegillat EstherEsther17th CenturyRembrandtPortuguese JewsDutch ArtSalom Italia

Places mentioned

Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands
"The Dutch fascination with Shushan was a product of both their Protestant biblicism and the long reach of the Dutch East India Company."
Spain
"In light of their decades-long struggle to liberate themselves from Catholic Spain, the Esther story also spoke to them of tenacity, resilience, and heroism in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds."
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
"A Jewish Heroine from the Hebrew Bible, c. 1632-1633 by Rembrandt van Rijn. (Courtesy of National Gallery of Canada/The Jewish Museum.)"
Raleigh, North Carolina, United States
"The Feast of Esther, c.1625 by Lievens, Jan the Elder (Courtesy of North Carolina Museum of Art/The Jewish Museum.)"
Bayonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France
"Also on display is a sampling of the poignant letters penned by applicants who, like Esther Mendes do Vale of Amsterdam and Clara de Almeida of Bayonne, wrote pleadingly in Portuguese to the administrators to have their names included in the annual lottery."
This item was indexed and curated by Cairo, JL;DR's web crawler.
Cairo Item ID 46577
Cairo Source ID 11
Retrieved 2025-03-14 05:30:52 UTC
Curated 2025-03-14 08:31:17 UTC