Reality and Imagination: Rembrandt and the Jews in the Dutch Republic

Ephraim Bonus, a Jewish physician who lived near Rembrandt, stands in Dutch clothes in a 1647 etching, with one prominent ring on his hand. The show treats him as a neighbour first and a sitter second.

Its question is where Rembrandt's documented contact with Amsterdam's Jews ends and his imagination begins. On the documented side are Claude Du Bosc's scene of the Portuguese Synagogue's dedication and a pair of 1649 silver Torah finials made for a Rotterdam synagogue. On the imagined side are biblical scenes: Rembrandt's Abraham casting out Hagar and Ishmael, Ferdinand Bol's Judah and Tamar, and Pieter Lastman's Tobias and Sarah. Reviewing it for the Arts Fuse, Lauren Kaufmann called it "an impressive group effort that illuminates a fascinating and significant aspect of Rembrandt's work."

It hangs in Gallery 243A, the Center for Netherlandish Art's scholarship gallery, and comes with general admission ($30). The MFA lists it through 29 November, and on Thursdays and Fridays the museum stays open until 10 pm.