Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee

Rembrandt van Rijn

Oil on canvas

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (stolen 1990)

Painted in 1633, Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee depicts the biblical episode from the Gospel of Mark in which Christ calms a violent storm on the Sea of Galilee, with his panic-stricken disciples struggling desperately to control their battered fishing vessel. Rembrandt renders the scene with extraordinary theatrical tension: a dramatic diagonal composition, a ripped sail, crashing waves, and individualized expressions of terror among the disciples contrast with the calm of Christ at the stern. The artist employs his signature chiaroscuro — stark contrasts of light and shadow — to heighten the spiritual drama, with light breaking through the stormy sky to illuminate the central figures. Dated to shortly after Rembrandt settled in Amsterdam and signed on the rudder, this large-scale oil on canvas stands as his only known seascape and one of the most celebrated history paintings of the Dutch Golden Age.