Description
Belshazzar’s Feast is Rembrandt’s large painting from about 1636–1638: the Babylonian king Belshazzar, in a golden cloak and an enormous turban, turns in fright towards the wall in the middle of his banquet, where a hand from a cloud writes mysterious words, while his guests knock over golden goblets. The original, oil on canvas, is 167.6 cm high and 209.2 cm wide and hangs in the National Gallery in London. We paint it by hand in oil on canvas in 7 landscape sizes, from 120 x 98 to 246 x 197 cm, or to your own measurement, and send you a photograph of the finished painting before dispatch.
| Title: | Belshazzar’s Feast |
| Other titles: | The Writing on the Wall · Mene, Mene, Tekel |
| Painter: | Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669) |
| Year painted: | about 1636–1638, Amsterdam |
| Original size: | 167.6 cm x 209.2 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Baroque, Dutch Golden Age |
| Located at: | National Gallery, London (NG6350) |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 7 sizes or made to measure |
Belshazzar’s Feast – Rembrandt
What does Belshazzar’s Feast show?
In the centre stands King Belshazzar, in a heavy golden cloak with embroidery and jewels, a gigantic turban and a tiny crown on top. Leaning with an outstretched arm on a table full of gold vessels, he turns wide-eyed towards the light at the upper right, where a hand emerges from a grey cloud and writes Hebrew letters on the wall.
Around him the guests shrink back from the light: on the right a woman in a red dress spills wine from her goblet, on the left others draw back open-mouthed. The National Gallery also points to the piercing eyes of the recorder player, who looks straight at us out of the shadows.
What is the story behind the painting?
The story comes from the Book of Daniel, chapter 5. Belshazzar’s father Nebuchadnezzar had looted the Temple in Jerusalem and carried off its sacred vessels; Belshazzar used them to serve food and wine at his feast, which was seen as sacrilege. In the middle of the feast a hand appeared and wrote on the wall: Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin.
The wise men of Babylon could not read the writing, so the prophet Daniel was called. He explained that the king had been weighed in the balance and found wanting; that same night Belshazzar was dead.
Why are the letters on the wall so unusual?
Rembrandt took the form of the Hebrew letters from a book by his friend, the Amsterdam rabbi and printer Menasseh ben Israel. According to Wikipedia he arranged them in vertical columns rather than in rows from right to left, as Hebrew is written, and miscopied one character.
That arrangement may be why the wise men could not understand the writing: read in rows, it is gibberish. There is more on this and on the painting’s history in the Wikipedia article.
Where is the original, and how did it get there?
In the National Gallery in London, inventory number NG6350, usually in Room 22. The gallery bought it in 1964 with a contribution from the Art Fund.
Before that, from 1736, it belonged to the Earls of Derby at Knowsley Hall. For a long time it remained almost unknown; according to Wikipedia it became really popular only after the National Gallery bought it.
Belshazzar’s Feast or another Rembrandt?
This is a painting for a dining room, a restaurant or a large living room, where people meet over good food and enjoy explaining it to their guests. Similar biblical drama comes with The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, and a quieter Old Testament scene with Bathsheba at Her Bath.
For a large wall with many figures there is The Night Watch, and from the years of Rembrandt’s miracle scenes The Raising of Lazarus. The Rembrandt page brings together more famous Rembrandt paintings with biblical stories.
How does our painter paint your Belshazzar’s Feast?
This Rembrandt reproduction takes time, because the palette of the original is unusually rich. Wikipedia lists among its pigments vermilion, smalt, lead-tin yellow, yellow and red lakes, ochres and azurite; with them the painter builds up the golden embroidery, the pearls and the fur in oil on canvas.
First he lays in the darkness around the table, then the shaft of light from the wall that strikes the faces, and last the glints on the gold vessels and the spilt wine. The result is an oil painting reproduction with a relief of paint that a paper print does not have.
Which size for your wall?
In short: 120 x 98 or 135 x 109 cm above a sideboard or in a smaller dining room, 150 x 123 or 170 x 136 cm above a sofa or a long table, and 190 x 153, 220 x 170 and 246 x 197 cm for restaurants, salons and large walls.
There are 7 landscape sizes (width x height): 120 x 98, 135 x 109, 150 x 123, 170 x 136, 190 x 153, 220 x 170 and 246 x 197 cm. The original is 209.2 cm wide and 167.6 cm high, so 220 x 170 cm is almost the size of the original and 246 x 197 cm is even larger. As a painting for the living room above a 2.2 m sofa, 170 x 136 cm is a good choice.
Because, as the gallery says, we look down on the table slightly from above, hang it with the king’s face a little above eye level and its centre about 155 cm from the floor.
Is another size possible, and which frame suits it?
Yes. The original is roughly 5 : 4 in proportion; in that ratio the writing hand, the king and the toppled goblets all stay on the canvas. Tell us your width and height and we will send you a price and a date.
This canvas painting can come to you rolled, on a wooden stretcher bar or framed, and our workshop in Slovenia does the stretching and the framing. Choose the frame in the 3D application, which is meant only for choosing the frame; viewing it on your own wall is a different service. A rich gold frame repeats the gold of the cloak and vessels, while a dark brown one calms the bright embroidery.
How and when do I receive the painting?
Since we start painting only after you order, allow 15 to 45 working days until dispatch. We deliver throughout the EU without customs. You get the photograph before we send the painting; we take your wishes into account, and our returns policy applies to every order.
For friends opening a restaurant, or a host who loves big dinners and should pick the size, there is the wall art voucher.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original Belshazzar’s Feast?
In the National Gallery in London, inventory number NG6350. The gallery has owned it since 1964.
What does the writing on the wall mean?
Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin. The prophet Daniel read it as a verdict: the king had been weighed in the balance and found wanting.
Which book of the Bible is the story from?
From the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament, chapter 5.
Why are the Hebrew letters written in columns?
According to Wikipedia Rembrandt arranged them vertically; this may explain why the wise men of Babylon could not read them.
Is your painting a print?
No, it is a hand-painted copy in oil on canvas; every golden glint on the vessels is put on with a brush by the painter.
How old was Rembrandt at the time?
About 30, according to the National Gallery, when he painted it between 1636 and 1638.
Which size suits a dining room?
Above a long dining table choose 150 x 123 or 170 x 136 cm; for a smaller dining room 135 x 109 cm is enough.
Does the painting suit a restaurant?
Yes, the banquet scene with gold vessels fits a restaurant or a salon well; for larger rooms choose 220 x 170 or 246 x 197 cm.
- Subject: King Belshazzar, in the middle of his feast, stares in fright at the hand writing on the wall as his guests spill their wine.
- Original: about 1636–1638, oil on canvas, 167.6 x 209.2 cm, National Gallery, London.
- Ours: painted by hand in oil on canvas, in 7 landscape sizes from 120 x 98 to 246 x 197 cm or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: the phrase “the writing on the wall”, for a sign that the end is near, comes from this story.
