EDUCATORS’ PERSPECTIVE
Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon
Rembrandt makes a cameo appearance in his 1625 painting of The Stoning of Saint Stephen( left) and is front and center with his wife Saskia in his 1635 work The Prodigal Son in the Brothel( right).
Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister diversification to spread their risks. Antonio, Shakespeare’ s merchant of Venice, followed this practice.” Diversification is still today one of the most well-known forms of risk management.
It appears then that Christ in the Storm, coupled with the Shakespeare quote, speaks primarily to the issue of diversification in Against the Gods. But Christ in the Storm can teach us much more about risk. First, by placing himself in the boat, Rembrandt is signaling his own attitude about risk. Russ Ramsey, writing from a pastoral perspective, believes that,“ By painting himself into the boat in The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt wants us to know that he believes his life will either be lost in a sea of chaos or preserved by the Son of God. Those are his only two options. And by peering through the storm and out of the frame to us, he asks if we are not in the same boat.” This places Rembrandt squarely in Bernstein’ s premodern view of risk where since the future is“ a whim of the gods,” there is no point in trying to manage or master it. 2
Rembrandt also reminds us that sometimes a risky situation can be resolved in an unexpected way. The disciples woke Jesus up from a deep sleep so he could
“ Quite aside from financial forms of risk management, merchants learned early on to employ diversification to spread their risks.”
— Peter Bernstein, in Against the Gods lend a hand with the storm-tossed boat. None of them had any idea that he would stand up, utter the words“ Peace! Be still!” and calm the raging sea. While we can’ t expect miracles to rescue us from a risky financial situation, we should not hesitate to look beyond traditional approaches to risk mitigation, especially when new and unique risk situations present themselves.
There is also much to be said for being patient instead of panicking in a seemingly hopeless situation. Hold on to the rope a little bit longer instead of doing something desperate, foolish or rash. Notice in the painting that Rembrandt isn’ t doing anything. He is not struggling against the winds and the sea, he is not frozen in fear, he is not panicked, he is not praying and he is not yelling at Jesus. He is not engaged in pointless activities whose only purpose is to give him the illusion of control. He is just holding on, calmly staring out at us. Calmness in the midst of chaos is a gift.
As he peers out at us in the midst of the storm, Rembrandt shows no fear because he knows what is going to happen in the
www. MoAF. org | Winter 2026 | FINANCIAL HISTORY 7