Mind-Benders of Jewish History
Rembrandt etched an Amsterdam rabbi
Menasseh ben Israel (1604-1657), the Amsterdam rabbi and printer who petitioned Cromwell to readmit Jews to England, lived in the same Amsterdam neighborhood as Rembrandt. In 1636 Rembrandt made an etched portrait long identified as Menasseh, and in 1655 supplied four etchings for Menasseh's book Piedra Gloriosa.
How we know
Menasseh ben Israel b.1604 d.1657 (graph). Rembrandt b.1606 d.1669. 1636 etched portrait + 1655 Piedra Gloriosa etchings; shared Jodenbreestraat-area neighborhood (Rembrandthuis museum; Rijksmuseum collection notes).
One of many fact-checked wonders across eight traditions at The Spring of Wisdom.