Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem

Rembrandt · 1630
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Rembrandt painted this small panel in Leiden in 1630, when he was twenty-four, and signed it with the monogram he used then. Light falls from the left on an old man sitting in a rocky shelter and on the gleaming metal beside him; almost everything else is in shadow.

The man leans his head on his hand and looks down. Far off in the darkness at the left, a city is burning. The book at his side is lettered “Bibel”, and the museum names him Jeremiah, mourning the fall of Jerusalem.

From the text

Nebuzaradan “burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem” (Jeremiah 52:13)

Zedekiah’s eyes were put out (Jeremiah 52:11)

“How lonely lies the city, once so full of people!” (Lamentations 1:1)

The artist’s own

The prophet sitting alone in a cave outside the city — the text does not describe where Jeremiah was as Jerusalem burned

Precious gold and silver vessels at his side, and a carpet with a gold border

A Dutch-lettered book, “Bibel”

Jeremiah as the author of Lamentations — a Jewish and Christian tradition

Details

Jeremiah

An old man rests his head on his hand, eyes lowered.

The burning city

Far off in the dark, flames rise around a domed building.

A small figure

A man presses his hands to his eyes — often taken to be King Zedekiah, who was blinded (Jeremiah 52:11).

Gold and silver

A silver bowl filled with gold vessels catches the light.

“Bibel”

A thick book with the word “Bibel” written on its edge.

Signature

“RHL 1630” — Rembrandt Harmenszoon of Leiden — on the rock.

Rembrandt van Rijn, Dutch, 1606–1669. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (SK-A-3276; purchased with the support of private collectors, the Vereniging Rembrandt and the Stichting tot Bevordering van de Belangen van het Rijksmuseum) · Oil on panel · Image: "Public Domain" (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/); object metadata: CC0 1.0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) — Rijksmuseum Linked Art record.

The verses

Jer 52:12–14On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign over Babylon, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. He burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem—every significant building. And the whole army of the Chaldeans under the captain of the guard broke down all the walls around Jerusalem.

Lam 1:1–2How lonely lies the city, once so full of people! She who was great among the nations has become a widow. The princess of the provinces has become a slave. She weeps aloud in the night, with tears upon her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.