In the year 1606 a young couple gave birth to a son. He would become one of the world’s most famous artists and he would paint scripturally-focused scenes on his canvasses. Growing up, this budding artist read mostly one book–the Bible. And it was that book that inspired his paintings.

Rembrandt van Rijn’s paintings would fill museums with his masterpieces. Paintings like: The Return of the Prodigal Son, Christ Before Pilot, Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalene and many more. 

Rembrandt was living in Amsterdam and he would use local Jewish persons as his models. He also used street people and his model for King Solomon was a local beggar. Rembrandt had a way of making his characters look like real persons.

In his work, The Raising of the Cross, he included himself in the portrait as one of the soldiers who raised the cross of Jesus. He noted that he was like all human beings who were responsible for the death of Christ. 

Rembrandt died in 1669, but not before giving us Christian art that no painter has ever rivaled. Are you aware that the Christ whom Rembrandt painted so often was also the Christ who gave his life a ransom on the cross?