There is a certain delicate presence beyond the charm of technical mastery in the late Rembrandt (1606 ā 1669). Especially so in The Jewish Bride (1665), where the viewer hovers in uncertainty whether the man in the painting is the groom who caresses the bride or the father who blesses the daughter. Whatever the case, it is a most tender moment that is depicted. The bride is adorned with a necklace, a ring, earrings and bracelets.
The thick impasto layers give the painting a rare materiality, physicality and weight. The applied paint becomes almost relief-like and at the same time manages to give the impression of motion. It's a living painting of flesh and blood. The color layers resemble eruptions of pigments. We clearly see the brush strokes, but can only guess how the painting was actually made. With brush, palette knife, hands, fingers.
Simply following the playing light on the fabric of the man's right arm is like looking into a golden display of fireworks. The painter is visually present in every triumphant spot of transformation and soft flashing brilliance. This infallibly leads our gaze towards the tender encounter of the hands in the center of the painting, where the left hand of the father / husband embraces on the bride's / daughter's shoulder, while his right hand touches her heart / breast, at the same moment as she touches this hand with her left as in a light caress.
The two aren't looking at each other - the man's gaze is lowered as in a state of reflection, while the girl seems to rest her gaze with a certain confidence, and we can discern the glimpse of a smile on her face.
Seldom in the history of art have hands been so central and predominant, or so carefully and elaborately painted. This is reinforced by the fact that the painted hands appear to be oversized, while swimming in a sea of red that is the Bride's luxurious dress. The hands almost become the concentrated main characters of the painting, the parts that denote the whole. The hands become the messengers of perception in what is arguably the most tender moment in the history of art.
Ā @SteemSwede