Symbolic Meaning Of Light In Rembrandt's Religious Paintings

As one of the representative painters in the 17th century Holland,Rembrandt was committed to paintings themed on "Bible" in all his life.He explored deeply the scenes and characters in the stories of the Bible,using different language of light and shade in different scenes,at different moments and with the appearance of different characters.Due to his flexible and extremely innovative language of light and shade,the "light" in his religious paintings implies multiple symbolic meanings and theological connotations.First,"light",as a sacred distinguished symbol,symbolized the radiance and glory of God.Second,"light" was a metaphor for knowledge in Protestant cultures that emphasize knowledge and Bible reading.Finally,Rembrandt also expressed theological connotations of Christian's repentance and redemption through the special use of "light".The special application of light and its implicit intrinsic meaning in Rembrandt's religious paintings had a direct impact on his students and followers and profoundly inspired those romantic painters;even in modern and postmodern art,man can catch sight of his direct or indirect impact.