Rijksmuseum
Five Studies of Haman’s Head
Creator
RembrandtDutch painter and printmaker (1606–1669) · 1606–1669
All works by this person →More on Wikipedia- Date
- c. 1655 - c. 1660
- Medium
- paper, ink
- Culture
- Amsterdam
- Institution
- Rijksmuseum
- Object ID
- RP-T-1930-16
From LinkedCulture
On a single sheet of paper, Rembrandt sketched the same condemned man's head five times, each tilted at a slightly different downward angle. The rapid pen and ink strokes capture falling hair and the heavy, bowed neck of Haman, the villain from the biblical Book of Esther. Made around 1655 to 1660, these studies were likely working preparations for a finished painting, and they show exactly how Rembrandt searched for the precise posture of shame before committing it to canvas.
Written by LinkedCulture for its video on this object. Machine-generated (claude-sonnet-4-6), not yet reviewed by a person. It is not part of the museum’s record.
From the Rijksmuseum record
In five separate sketches, Rembrandt drew the head of a bearded man with long hair and a headband. These may have been studies for Haman, in Rembrandt’s painting Haman before Esther (now in Bucharest). There Haman kneels with bowed head, condemned to death by King Ahasuerus and his wife, Esther (a Jewess), for having ordered all Jews to be killed.
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