Perlove brings Rembrandt exhibit to life in Detroit

Perlove, University of Michigan-Dearborn professor of art history, felt confident that the “Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus” exhibit at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) would attract its share of crowds.

Her premonition was spot on. More than 116,000 visitors toured the exhibit, which Perlove helped organize.

The final ticket tally exceeded the museum’s projections by 6,000.

“I’ve never seen the museum so crowded,” Perlove said.

The exhibit, which ran Nov. 20 through Feb. 12, featured many of Rembrandt’s finest paintings, prints and drawings that portray Jesus and events described in the Bible.

Perlove played a role on the scientific team, coauthored an essay in the exhibition catalog, participated in the audio tour and served as a consultant for DIA. Perlove played such an integral role in the exhibit because she conducted extensive research and has written books and curated exhibitions on Rembrandt’s religious works.

“So many of my major ideas from the large book I coauthored, Rembrandt’s Faith, published by Penn State Press, were out there in the exhibition,” she said. “It was a gratifying way of reaching the general public. The nice thing is how they reacted so well to it. This is very scholarly material, but the public reacted to this because it was presented in a way that enabled them to think about it.”

Several visitors repeatedly toured the exhibit, something that excited Perlove, who gave more than six public lectures on the show.

“It makes me feel wonderful as a teacher and a scholar,” she said. “You saw people from all different denominations coming to see it. I feel wonderful about it.”

This week, Perlove is conducting research in California for an upcoming book on Rembrandt’s religious drawings.