Judah and Tamar

This painting, in gradated shades of brown, shows an incident from the Old Testament. (Gen 38, 1–30) Judah comes upon Tamar, widow of his two dead sons. According to old Jewish levirate law, Tamar should marry Judah’s youngest son. Judah refuses this, as he blames her for his sons’ death. In order to achieve her right, she waits at the roadside, wearing a veil; her father-in-law takes her for a harlot. Tamar falls pregnant, and when Judah learns of this, he demands that she be burnt to death. A pledge given to Tamar forces him to acknowledge his error. Tamar gives birth to twins, one of whom, Pharez, is an ancestor of David and Jesus. In the first half of the 19th century, the painting was attributed to Rembrandt; at its purchase in 1981 it was listed as the work of Gerbrand van den Eeckhout (1621–1674), a pupil of Rembrandt. This attribution and others are no longer considered probable.

Habersatter Thomas: School of Rembrandt, Judah and Tamar, in: Ducke Astrid, Habersatter Thomas (Hrsg./Edi.): von | from 0 auf | to 100. Residenzgalerie Salzburg 1923-2023. Salzburg 2023, S./p. 198-199