Lighting Conductor

Nick Trend enjoys an experimental new exhibition that explores the Dutch master’s use of light for dramatic effect

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REMBRANDT’S painting, Christ and St Mary Magdalene at the Tomb, shows Mary on her knees, praying, at the moment when the newly resurrected Christ reveals himself to her. It is dawn and the artist depicts the first cool light of day breaking over the distant towers of Jerusalem in the valley below. It rakes like a miraculous beam across the landscape, illuminating Christ’s white gown and Mary’s startled face. The symbolism is obvious, but the effect is brilliant.

The picture, a loan from the Royal Collection, is one of 35 paintings, etchings and drawings included in an innovative exhibition that explores Rembrandt’s mastery of light. Instead of showing it in a conventional way, the curators have blacked out part of the room and the painting has been lit with a single spotlight that, over a couple of minutes, steadily increases in intensity—from virtual darkness to full strength. The experience is genuinely remarkable. Because Rembrandt’s contrasts between light and dark are so intense, the lightest parts of the painting emerge from the gloom first. It really does seem that dawn is slowly breaking.