He Took Her by the Hand

Rembrandt van Rijn repeatedly returned to biblical subjects throughout his long and prodigious career, at a time when many of his Dutch contemporaries were eschewing them in favour of contemporary subjects like city views, portraits, and genre painting. The 1650s, to which this drawing, The Healing of Peter’s Mother-in-Law, is tentatively dated, was a fertile period for his production of these works, not only as drawings but also as etchings and paintings. Here Rembrandt depicts the crucial moment from Mark’s account where Jesus takes the hand of Peter’s mother-in-law and helps her to her feet—thus effecting a miraculous cure by touch (as specified in Mark’s account). It is a strikingly intimate portrayal of the scene, which is rarely represented in art of any medium. This approach, in which extraneous supporting characters are stripped back so as to focus fully on the story’s protagonists, is characteristic of Rembrandt’s treatment of biblical scenes—subject matter often used in teaching works for pupils (Schatborn 2010: 85). This is also a scene of action—the figures are in motion, and the cure that Christ is effecting is in process. Christ steps down with his right foot, as he bends towards Peter’s mother-in-law. The two exchange glances. With a few expertly judged strokes of the pen, Rembrandt implies the clenched jaw of Peter’s mother-in-law as the fever leaves her and she uncertainly attempts to stand, as well as the calm, downturned countenance of the healing Christ. Similarly, a few lines are all that’s needed to indicate the two pairs of hands clasped together, or the mattress from which Peter’s mother-in-law rises—none of which is fully drawn. Position, line work, and light source combine to make Christ the focal point of the work for viewers who can (Rembrandt seems to suggest) like Peter’s mother-in-law find salvation by focussing their gaze on Jesus.