Queen Esther was a figure of inspiration to Jews who had fled from oppressive regimes. In the Netherlands, she became a broadly popular symbol of courage and resistance.

Rembrandt’s “Jewish Heroine from the Hebrew Bible,” the central painting, was completed when the artist was 27. While the identification with Esther is not entirely ironclad — the Jews have no ...

The larger-than-life oil painting ... ought to “fully appreciate Rembrandt’s brilliance and his ability to take these stories ...