Rembrandt’s Christ in the Storm on the Lake of Galilee
Even though I have used Rembrandt van Rijn’s Storm on the Sea of Galilee for many years as a visio divina prayer prompt at high school retreats, I only recently learned the bizarre recent history of the Dutch master’s first great work of art. Storm on the Sea of Galilee was stolen! In 1990, a particularly destructive art heist was undertaken at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, which claimed the work and several others. The perpetrators have never been apprehended, and the painting remains lost.
Of course, you can still find digital copies of the image, which does portray the complexity and depth of Sunday’s gospel from Mark. Rembrandt uses light and shadow in the work to bring life to the landscape. The painting is primarily dark, signifying the experience of storms in our lives. When we are in the middle of a struggle, a controversy, or a tragedy, it can often feel like the darkness envelops us, just as it must have felt for the apostles clinging to the rigging of the boat for their lives in the storm. However, we see light in the painting’s upper left-hand corner. A sign of the hope that God brings, a hope which we only have to keep our eyes fixed on to find motivation and inspiration in the darkness.
The figures of the twelve apostles in the boat all participate in some unique activity. Some cower in fear; some desperately try to steer the ship, and some hold on for dear life. It is widely believed that Rembrandt painted his own face on one of the apostles in the painting. He likely wanted us to realize that we are the twelve apostles facing our storms. Like the apostles in the image, each of us responds to adversity in unique ways. Sometimes, we feel drawn to get right to work, white-knuckling our way through the problem; sometimes, it is all we can do to try to weather the storm; and sometimes, we are called to take the lead and inspire others to steer the boat of our lives to safe harbor.
Finally, the painting contains two depictions of Christ (kind of). First, in the bottom right of the boat, Jesus sits serenely on a cushion. He is at peace in the storm with an almost frustrating amount of serenity. Second is the ship itself. The mast of the boat in the very center of the painting is quite clearly a cross. The boat represents the Church, the Body of Christ, taking us through the storms of life.
The painting is (was?) one of the most prayerful and thoughtful depictions of a Biblical scene anywhere in the world. Through it, Rembrandt encourages us to see the story of Christ calming the storm as more than a historical narrative; he wants us to place ourselves in the story just as he placed himself. We each have storms in our lives. We each have moments where we feel tossed from side to side by the winds and the rain.
Each of us responds to the stresses we encounter in different ways and uniquely to each situation. We should intentionally take notice of how we respond. Does stress put us into overdrive? Does controversy make us shut down? Do we like to lead or follow when the going gets tough? Self-knowledge is essential to the spiritual life; by calmly examining our responses to situations in good times, we can know which graces to seek in bad times.
Rembrandt is telling us that we’d all do well to peer through the darkness around us to the light on the horizon, the hope of Jesus Christ that is always present, if we only notice it. And, perhaps most poignantly, each of us can grow frustrated when it appears Christ remains seated and calm while we’re holding on for dear life. But the story reminds us to put our trust in him. Jesus is, as our Eastern brothers and sisters say in their Divine Liturgy, the Savior of the storm-tossed, who only has to say the word to still the wind and the rain.
While I’m never in favor of art heists, there may be some poetry in the fact that Rembrandt’s beautiful depiction of Mark’s story exists only in our memories and imaginations. It can often appear that we are alone in the wind, rain, and darkness, and God, even if present, remains silent. But he is, at every moment, offering us the stillness and calmness of his presence. Remember to look for his light, to listen to his voice, and to allow his peace to bring you shelter from the storm.
Fr. Alex Roche is the pastor of St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church in Laflin, Pennsylvania and serves as the director of vocations for the Diocese of Scranton. Ordained in 2012, he has a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Lateran University. He went to college with a girl who went to high school with the niece of the guy who played Al in Quantum Leap.
You can listen to his podcast at www.wadicherith.com.
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