The Jewish Bride or Portrait of Two Figures from the Old Testament as it is also known, was painted by Remrandt in the year 1667. This painting is an oil on canvas. Its dimensions are 121.5 x 166.5 cm. It is on display at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

The painting shows a well-dressed man and woman in a dark room. The man has his arm around the woman’s shoulder and the other hand on her breast. The woman is touching the man’s hand with her fingertips. Both the figures are staring ahead as if lost in thought. Next to the woman you can see a plant inside a pot. The name, The Jewish Bride, became popular in the 19th century, when an art collector identified the subject of the painting as that of a Jewish father giving his daughter a necklace on the day of her wedding. Although since then this interpretation has been dismissed, the painting is still known by this title.

Vincent van Gogh was so impressed with this work that he said he’d exchange ten years of his life for the chance to gaze at this masterpiece for two weeks.

Rembrandt: Belshazzar's Feast, oil on canvas, 1635, today: National Gallery, London

The Feast of Belshazzar or more often Belshazzar’s Feast is a famous painting by Rembrandt based on the Bible story of the Babylonian ruler Belshazzar. The latter was predicted his impending death and the ruin of his empire by a mysterious handwriting on a wall. Various artists tried theirselves with this very theme. The painting to be seen here was executed by Rembrandt in about 1635. Belshazzar’s Feast is signed “Rembrandt f. 163rd”, but the last digit is not legible. The painting Belshazzar’s Feast is not less than 1.67 x 2.09 meters tall, executed as oil on canvas and is exposed today at the National Gallery in London.

The story of Belshazzar is described in the Old Testament of the Bible (The Feast of Belshazzar, Daniel 5:25). Belshazzar is celebrating a grand party. At this occasion he would use vessels, which his father had captured in the temple of Jerusalem, while a ghostly writing appeared on the wall of his palace. Immediately he summoned his scribes, but they just proved being incapable of deciphering the text. However, the Prophet Daniel, laid in chains, was called now and read: מנא ,מנא, תקל, ופרסין (Mene, Mene, Tekel u-Pharsin). Daniel and interpreted the writing on the wall as a prophecy for fall of Belshazzar and his kingdom. Indeed, in the same night Belshazzar was slain by his servants.

The literal translation of Mene, Mene, Tekel u-Pharsin from Aramaic is unclear. Daniel interpreted the oracle with the help of similar-sounding Aramaic verbs: counted, weighed and divided. Daniel interpreted as follows:
God hath counted thy kingdom, and end it
You have been weighed and found being to light
Thy kingdom will be divided and given to the Medes and Persians.

Rembrandt captured in his painting the moment as the mysterious handwriting appears on the wall. Despite the festive situation, the terrified faces of those present and the horror of Belshazzar’s dominate the artwork. The king obviously does not understand the lettering; nevertheless he has a strong feeling that it could mean no good. While other painters skipped in their paintings of Belshazzar’s Feast usually the presentation of the mysterious script, – no one knew exactly how it write it – Rembrandt took up the challenge. Probably Rabbi Manasseh ben Israel, who had been portrayed by Rembrandt in 1636, helped Rembrandt in this regard. The script is written in Hebrew letters andto be read from the right to the left, and especially to read from the top to the bottom.