Housed in the National Gallery, London, and completed in 1635, this impressive oil painting centres on the story of Belshazzar and the writing on the wall in the Old Testament Book of Daniel. The canvas illustrates the artist’s attempt to establish his name as a painter of large, baroque history paintings. According to the story, the Babylonian King Belshazzar, feasting with his lords, wives and concubines, commanded the gold and silver vessels, which his father Nebuchadnezzar had looted from the temple at Jerusalem, to be brought in and filled with wine. Following this brazen command, a mysterious hand appeared and wrote on the wall: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. Frightened by the occurrence, Belshazzar called for his soothsayers to interpret the writing, but they were unable to decode the words. Eventually the Jewish captive, Daniel, was called before the King and he explained that the words foretold that Belshazzar’s days were numbered and his kingdom will be divided, due to his sacrilege. Belshazzar was slain later that night.
As seen in many of Rembrandt’s works, the figures portrayed in Belshazzar’s Feast are not aesthetically appealing, but they are depicted realistically, highlighting an important aspect of the artist’s style. The subjects are represented faithfully with wrinkles and other blemishes, showing that Rembrandt was not interested in recording perfection. In the image, he presents the moment at which the banqueters stare in amazement and terror at the mysterious hand. The central figure is the King of Babylon and the Queen sitting next to him, with their faces locked in surprise, as they stare at the mysterious hand. The artist employs chiaroscuro to heighten the distinctive shift between light and shadow, increasing the tension of the piece. The shadows are used to hide the unnecessary or distracting details and light is used to illuminate the faces of the figures and their emotions of wonder and fear.
At the time of completing the work, Rembrandt lived in the Jewish Quarter of Amsterdam and received help with the form of Hebrew inscription used in the top right of the canvas by his friend, the learned Rabbi and printer, Menasseh ben Israel. However, the artist mistranscribed one of the characters and arranged them in columns, rather than right to left, as Hebrew is written.