Daniel in the Lions’ Den

Rembrandt · c. 1650
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Rembrandt drew this den about 1650 in pen and brown wash. He corrected one lion with white paint, which has darkened with time.

Daniel kneels in prayer while the lions crowd round him; one roars, others lie at rest. Rubens, in the other work at this verse, gives Daniel a rock and a red cloak; Rembrandt gives him only a quiet corner of the den.

From the text

Daniel thrown into the den of lions (Daniel 6:16)

The king hurrying to the den at dawn and calling down to Daniel (Daniel 6:19–20)

The lions’ mouths shut; “They have not hurt me” (Daniel 6:22)

The artist’s own

Daniel kneeling with his hands joined; the text does not say what he did that night

Lions with heavy manes, like the ones Rembrandt drew from life in other sketches

Details

Daniel

He kneels among the lions with his hands joined.

Corrected

This lion’s head was painted over in white, now turned grey.

Roaring

At the right a lion opens its jaws.

Looking in

A face peers down through the round opening of the den — perhaps the king.

Rembrandt van Rijn, Dutch, 1606–1669. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (Gift of C. Hofstede de Groot, The Hague; RP-T-1930-17) · Pen and brown ink, with brown wash and opaque white (oxidized) · 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

Dan 6:16–22So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that nothing concerning Daniel could be changed. Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting. No entertainment was brought before him, and sleep fled from him. At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the den of lions. When he reached the den, he cried out in a voice of anguish, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” Then Daniel replied, “O king, may you live forever! My God sent His angel and shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, for I was found innocent in His sight, and I have done no wrong against you, O king.”