His name is synonymous with great art, and is known even to those who have never entered an art museum or even looked at a reproduction of one of his works. Rembrandt paintings are always a prime attraction in any museum fortunate enough to display them, and Rembrandt’s name is used to sell a variety of goods, including even toothpaste.
The Arts Council of Moore County and First Baptist Church of Southern Pines present a lecture by Dr. John Durham called “What Rembrandt Knew About Us.” Sponsored by The Country Bookshop, the lecture will take place on Sunday, Feb. 19, at 4 p.m. in the church sanctuary.
Following the lecture, Durham will autograph copies of his latest book, “The Biblical Rembrandt: A Human Artist in a Landscape of Faith.” The lecture is free and open to the public.
Durham’s lecture, drawn in part from his book, is a meditation on the reason for Rembrandt’s fame.
Throughout his career, Rembrandt sought to know himself — a quest that produced more than 70 self-portraits. In the course of that journey, he came also to know in a unique way the individuals whom he drew and etched and painted, whether they were neighbors, heroes of history and myth, or persons in the Bible, and he managed somehow to put that knowledge into his work.
His early biblical works are an attempt at illustration, but he soon moved to interpretation, and by the end of his life, he came close to painting faith.
Durham earned a bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest College, a B.D. and Th. M. from Southeastern Baptist Theologi-cal Seminary, and a doctorate from the University of Oxford.
His postdoctoral study was done at the University of Heidelberg, the University of Zurich, and the Albright Institute for Archaeo-logical Study in Jerusalem.
Durham’s professional experience includes acting instructor in Latin at Meredith College in Raleigh; professor of Hebrew and Old Testament at the Southeastern Baptist Theolo-gical Seminary; pastor of Greenwich Baptist Church in Greenwich, Conn.; guest lectureship at Regent's Park College at the University of Oxford; and guest professorship at Baptische Theologische Hochschule in Ruschikon, Switzerland.
