It was claimed that Rembrandt could spend one or two days setting up a turban in preparation for a painting. Even if it might not be entirely accurate, the anecdote shows he was clearly understood as paying close attention to such items of Eastern dress in his art. They were connected to ancient history, and specifically to the Biblical Old Testament, which Rembrandt sought to depict with as much historical accuracy as he could muster. This pursuit would see various changes over his career, however, reflecting increasing Dutch contact with the cultures of the East, mostly Persia and the Ottoman Empire, but also North Africa, through objects and even through visitors from these lands, over the course of the seventeenth century.

The story of Rembrandt’s engagement with these cultures forms the theme of an exhibition at the Rembrandt House Museum in the fall of 2026. Coming after a broad overview exhibition on this theme in 2022 in Potsdam and Basel (Rembrandt’s Orient), it zeroes in on Rembrandt more closely, following him as he moved on from his teacher Pieter Lastman and started to examine various more direct sources, and looking more specifically at his encounter with Ottoman and Persian cultures. The exhibition’s special focus is on the impact of direct contact with artifacts present in Amsterdam, such as turbans and carpets, and also with people from these worlds visiting the city for trade.

The presentation in Amsterdam will build on new research by Nadia Bouras on migration during this period, closely linked to trade, and archival research by Mark Ponte of the Amsterdam City Archive on persons present in the city during Rembrandt’s time. This evidence sheds light on our reading of drawings and paintings by Rembrandt, his friends and pupils, and other contemporary artists, which appear to show such figures recorded from life. These works record a wide range of different costumes and variation in stance and interaction, as part of the observation of different, unfamiliar cultures. They also show Rembrandt and his pupils observing already-established relationships between Turkish and Persian merchants and officials, and Jewish and Armenian merchants who functioned as intermediaries.

Rembrandt generally championed observation from life and pursued veracity in recording even spontaneous and fleeting aspects of behavior. His drawings, and those from his circle, show keen observation and analysis, also in terms of differences, complexity, and patterns of interaction, and appear to form unique records of contact with these cultures at this moment in time. Going well beyond the need to depict Biblical stories correctly, these works reflect his general study of the humanity around him, also in terms of cultural difference.

Rembrandt and his pupils and friends also depicted other important objects from Islamic cultures, including carpets. Drawing on research contributions by Thijs Gerbrandy, the exhibition links the inclusion of Persian carpets in paintings by Rembrandt and his circle to his artistic models and to important trade developments during this period. In many instances, Rembrandt could study carpets directly on the tables of affluent Amsterdammers. The exhibition dwells on how such carpets were treasured and admired and prominently displayed in portraits and genre scenes. It will address their varying significance, as distinct from, but sometimes also related to their meaning in history paintings.

Trade played an important role in bringing Rembrandt and his contemporaries into contact with many cultures around the world. Their presence in the form of objects in Rembrandt’s Kunstkamer (Curiosity Cabinet) demonstrates the artist’s wide-ranging interest and openness, also seen in his artworks. The exhibition will also address the significance of these historical exchanges for present-day Amsterdam, with its diverse population. Members of various communities in the city have been involved in the development of the exhibition concept and content. An integrated co-creation component will feature the responses of contemporary artists from these communities to the exhibition concept and works included in it.