Rod Dreher's Diary

Share this post

User's avatar
Rod Dreher's Diary
Rembrandt's Melancholic Monk

Rembrandt's Melancholic Monk

And: the comforting pleasure of Michael Guillen's popular faith-and-science book

Rod Dreher's avatar
Rod Dreher
Apr 04, 2022
∙ Paid
14

Share this post

User's avatar
Rod Dreher's Diary
Rembrandt's Melancholic Monk
8
Share

This painting by Rembrandt is of his son Titus wearing a Franciscan monk’s cowl. It was, to me, the most moving of all the paintings I saw in the Rijksmuseum a couple of weeks ago. I drew a sharp breath when I first saw it, and thought, “That’s me.”

Why? Because I am in the midst of a long period of discernment about the direction God wants me to go with…

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Rod Dreher's Diary to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Rod Dreher
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share