ABSTRACT
From his day to ours, Rembrandt has exerted a notable draw on Jewish art collectors. In part, their interest is more than a matter of taste. Certain patterns can be detected in the timing and nature of their purchases. This article reviews the main features concerned, with particular emphasis on the fraught period of heightened antisemitism in France and Germany from the 1880s until the First World War, a period when the purchase of Rembrandt paintings by Jewish collectors took a quantum leap. Several of their acquisitions they donated to the most prestigious museums in their countries, thus calling attention to themselves as benefactors of their nation, and to the high status of an artist felt to be friendly toward the Jews.
