Rembrandt's "La Main Chaude (hot hand)" is really "The Supper at Emmaus"
Rembrandt early work, 1628 - 1629 in Leiden
Rembrandt grew up in Leiden. He moved to Amsterdam in 1631 when he was 25. There is a chronological list of Rembrandt paintings on wiki. In 1628-1629, Rembrandt was exploring the theme of the dark silhouette or a shadow in the foreground that hides the luminous source of light.
mentalblog logo and the first post.
Misidentified Painting
This painting is very small, 21 cm x 27 cm. This explains some sketch-like strokes of the faces. But look at the glistening buttons. Rembrandt magic!
Web Gallery of Art: “In 1904 this painting, then attributed to Willem de Poorter, was considered to show the game "La main chaude". It is a game in which sleight of hand and close attention are rewarded. One player, the "penitent," hides his face in the lap of a second (called the "confessor," a referee who monitors the game) and places his hand flat behind his back. In turn, other players slap the penitent on the hand, and he tries to identify who hit him. The player who lets himself be discovered becomes the penitent. Later, the painting was reintroduced to the oeuvre of Rembrandt and the interpretation of the scene was rejected as compared with the paintings of the subject by other Dutch artists, such as Jan Miense Molenaer.”
The National Gallery of arts in Dublin writes: “Rembrandt’s authorship of this painting was first suggested more than a century ago, but a definite attribution to him was only confirmed at the end of 2001. Dating to Rembrandt’s time in Leiden, it is one of the few known genre scenes by the artist. Its subject, however, is difficult to determine. The painting was traditionally thought to depict la main chaude, a parlour game that revolved around a person being smacked from behind and having to identify the person who did it. However, Rembrandt’s enigmatic picture is more likely to depict a group of men in the middle of some sort of confrontation. Realizing that he has made a mistake, the central figure looks over his shoulder with a blend of fear and shame. The two men behind the central figure have lined up shoulder to shoulder to take a firm stance against him. The large eyes and the open mouth of the figure behind the table on the left convey his shock. The contours of the silhouetted figure suggest astonishment at what is happening in front of him.”
In other words, let’s double down on nonsense, Dublin!
I think I know the true subject of the painting. This is more than a hint. The same year.
The subject of the painting in The National Gallery of arts in Dublin, known as “La main chaude” is “The Supper at Emmaus”. In fact, Rembrandt kept returning to the theme in various paintings and sketches later in life.
“The gospel according to St Luke (24:13-32) tells of the meeting of two disciples with the resurrected Christ. It is only during the meal that his companions recognize him in the way he blesses and breaks the bread. But with that, the vision of Christ vanishes. In the gospel according to St. Mark (16:12) he is said to have appeared to them "in an other form".
Silhouette, the shadow of Christ, is the only borderline human. He is also the source of light. In the “La main chaude” painting, the man raises his hand in awe, as if afraid to be blinded by the light (no games, no “hot hand”). There is also a table for the supper. Young Rembrandt was meditating this theme. Rembrandt revisited “The Supper at Emmaus” several times later in life, but he was no longer hiding Jesus behind the mysterious shadow. Or was he still hiding?
UPDATE:
The Supper at Emmaus from Leiden, 1628
Why do ghosts need a comfortable chair?