The Book of Esther
in the Age of Rembrandt
August 6, 2026 - January 18, 2027
Hostetter Gallery
About the Exhibition
In Rembrandt’s Holland the story of Jewish heroine Esther was popular with audiences of many faiths. Bringing together depictions in Dutch paintings, tapestries, decorative arts, and Jewish ceremonial objects, the exhibition shines light on the ways in which one heroine’s triumph of bravery has inspired people across time and place.
The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt is co-organized by the Jewish Museum, New York, and the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh.
Generous support for the exhibition at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is provided by Barbara and Amos Hostetter, The Richard C. von Hess Foundation, an anonymous donor, Mark and Donna Leventhal Family (Donna Leventhal, Emily Leventhal & David Rontal, Sara & Peter Fleiss, and Rebecca Leventhal), the Ford Foundation, and Amy and David Abrams.
The exhibition also received funding from Wagner Foundation, CANVAS, The Beker Foundation, Lisbeth Tarlow and Stephen Kay, the David Berg Foundation, Dutch Culture USA, a program of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the United States, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Diamond Charity Foundation, The Miriam Fund, Indian Point Foundation, Caron and Kevin Tabb, Artis, and Rita J. and Stanley H. Kaplan Family Foundation, Inc.
Additional support is provided by an endowment grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Mellon Foundation.
