The Ascension Of Christ

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The Ascension Of Christ: Rembrandt

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Art Type: Oil Painting
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Rembrandt Oil Painting - The Ascension Of Christ

Keywords: Ascension, Christ

Work Overview: The Ascension Of Christ
Rembrandt
Date: 1636
Style: Baroque
Genre: religious painting
Media: oil
Dimensions: 92.7 x 68.3 cm
Location: Private Collection

Rembrandt received a commission from the court in about 1628 through Constantijn Huygens, secretary to the Prince of Orange, for five paintings of the Passion of Christ. The series started with the Raising of the Cross and Descent from the Cross. He was hired to create small versions of Rubens famous altarpieces in Antwerp, the Raising of the Cross and the Descent from the Cross. Huygens asked Rembrandt to produce paintings less than one-twenty-fifth the size of the Rubenses. It must also have been agreed between Huygens and Rembrandt that the artist would inset himself into the composition of the Descent from the Cross as one of the followers of Christ who eased the body to the ground.

The two paintings, finished in 1633 are plainly modelled on Rubens's versions of those subjects. When they were delivered in 1633, a new commission followed, for three more paintings of scenes from the Passion of Christ, The Entombment, The Resurrection and The Ascension. The first to be delivered, early in 1636, was The Ascension, the last in iconographic order. If in the Raising and Descent Rembrandt had vied with Rubens, in the Ascension he had moved back in time to the Venetian master Titian. In a composition based on one of Titian's most famous works, the Assumption of the Virgin in the Church of Frari in Venice, Rembrandt created an image of earth, sky, and heaven, with mortals taking leave of a divine creature being raised by angels to the Godhead itself.

The reception of the Ascension was not enthusiastic and did not lead to new commissions from The Hague. The final two pieces from the commission of 1633, The Entombment and The Resurrection, were completed in 1639. The series was finally completed only in 1646, with a commission for two other canvases with scenes from the life of Christ as an infant, the Adoration of the Shepherds and the Circumcision (now lost, it is known from a copy in the Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig).

After his Resurrection on Easter Sunday Jesus spent time with his disciples. On the fortieth day he said farewell and ascended to heaven. According Mark he was given a seat to the right of God.

Before his departure he announced that the disciples would soon be visited by the Holy Spirit. He would give them strength to travel around the world and be witnesses unto Jesus. And so it happened, ten days later, on the day of Pentecost.

In this painting Rembrandt shows the cloud that is mentioned in Acts 1. Titian: The Assumption of MaryHe also painted an unusual amount of cherubs - something one would sooner expect in a Titian painting. That is no coincidence: experts think Rembrandt may have borrowed the composition from a print of an Assumption of Mary (1516-18) by Titian.

X-ray photographs unveiled that in an early version God was shown in the top section of this work. Rembrandt later painted the ring of light and the barely visible white pigeon. Perhaps he made that modification because of the Calvinist idea of God as the "Unseeable".

This work is one of the five passion paintings by Rembrandt for the stadtholder Frederik Hendrik. The Raising of the Cross, the Descent from the Cross, the Entombment, the Resurrection, the Ascension.

Rembrandt’s Ascension is sometimes dismissed as one of his less successful works. It is one of a group of paintings – the Entombment, the Resurrection and the Ascension – commissioned by the Dutch head of state, Stadtholder Frederik Hendrik, to hang in his private art gallery in The Hague. It was a huge and important commission that could further establish Rembrandt’s rising reputation and yet it seems to have caused him considerable difficulty.

One suggestion is that the theme itself required Rembrandt to shift gears, from Rubensian Baroque drama to something more contemplative. Another is that the subject tended to conflict with his naturalistic instincts.

This is not one of those Rembrandts that seem to peer deeply into a man’s soul. We see a group of disciples simply staring in awe as Jesus is taken up to heaven. The scene is lit from above and the heavenly light filters down to the faces of the disciples, symbolizing their genuine but partial understanding. At the left-hand side a giant palm tree – a symbol of God’s people – holds the two realms of heaven and earth together.

And yet, perhaps its simplicity is a strength. What else is there to show? Isn’t staring in awe exactly the right response? Jesus has been raised from the dead and has been with the disciples for 40 days. That was amazing enough. But now he has been taken bodily into heaven. What does that tell us?

Jesus was not the only person in the Bible brought back from the dead: the son of the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:17–24); the Shunammite woman’s son (2 Kings 4:18–37); the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11–17); Jairus’ daughter (Luke 8:52–56); Lazarus (John 11); various ‘holy people’ in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus’ death and resurrection (Matthew 27:50–53); Tabitha (Acts 9:36–43) and Eutychus (Acts 20:7–12). But all these people subsequently died again.

Jesus is unique. Death never had any hold over him. So Jesus freely gave himself up to death for our sakes and for our salvation and freely took up his life again, never to die again. And to underline this wonderful truth, Jesus’ body is taken physically from this earth and he now stands in the presence of God.

It is thought that in this work Rembrandt moved away from the influence of Rubens and modeled the composition on Titian’s huge altarpiece, the Assumption of the Virgin (1515–18) in the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice. This may account for the rather uncharacteristic cluster of winged putti in the Rembrandt. But Rembrandt, typical of his Protestant heritage, has made the scene entirely Christocentric. Whereas in the Titian the putti push up the cloud on which Mary is taken upwards, in the Rembrandt they are more adoring than for weight-bearing.

In a similar way, where x-rays show that Rembrandt, like Titian, originally showed God the Father in the top of the picture, receiving Jesus, he eventually removed this figure. The scene is therefore focused on Christ who, apparently of his own motive power, now ascends back to the Father, who is hidden in bright light. The slightly Baroque diagonal from the circle of watching disciples guides the eye to Jesus in the center, from where he appears to be rising directly vertically.

When Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was on trial, he was given a vision in which he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father: ‘“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God”’ (Acts 7:55–56). This statement was so shocking to the Jewish leaders that they covered their ears and had Stephen dragged outside and stoned to death. The idea of a man standing in the presence of God was anathema to them.

And yet, that is what we celebrate this week at Ascension-tide. Jesus was taken bodily into heaven. Mysterious as this is – for where exactly is Jesus’ body now? – Luke is emphatic that like all the resurrection appearances this event too is attested by eye-witnesses (Acts 1:9). And so we have one more powerful demonstration that Jesus really is both perfect God and perfect man.

It is a truly amazing fact: that a man really does stand in the presence of the Father. And he stands there representing us human beings. It is precisely because he stands there, as our friend and brother, but also as our High Priest offering the sacrifice of his own life on our behalf, that we have hope and confidence to face our own deaths, knowing that we will one day be re-clothed in resurrection bodies as he was (1 Corinthians 15).

Rembrandt shows the disciples rapt in awe as they see Jesus glorified. They will now have to go out into a hostile world spreading the great good news of the gospel and each will pay dearly in his own flesh for the privilege of this witness. But each does so because they have seen with their own eyes the truth of the resurrection and the ascension and they are therefore sure in their faith and their hope.

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