"Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is showing a major exhibition of works by the acclaimed Dutch old master Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669).

Gathering an exceedingly rare and singular series of seven portraits depicting the head of Christ and complemented by more than fifty related paintings, prints, and drawings, some of them rarely exhibited or lent due to their light-sensitivity and fragility, the "Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus" exhibition invites the viewer to grasp the religious, historic, and artistic significance of these works, while at the same time witnessing Rembrandt's iconoclasm and his search for a meditative ideal.

These bust-length portraits portraits of Jesus mark a new step in the history of Christian art, which had previously relied on rigidly copied prototypes for Christ, by making use of a human model.

The "Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus" exhibition can be visited until October 30, 2011.