Reader’s Corner: Van Gogh and ‘The Jewish Bride’

‘The Jewish Bride’ by Rembrandt (1667)

Legend has it that after Vincent Van Gogh saw Rembrandt’s paintingThe Jewish Bride in Amsterdam—where it still hangs today in the renovated Rijksmuseum—he said this:

I should be happy to give 10 years of my life if I could go on sitting here in front of this picture for a fortnight, with only a crust of dry bread for food.

The math there might be a little on the extreme side (Van Gogh wasn’t one for half-measures, after all), but still, who wouldn’t say som...