《無知的財主》

林布蘭特畫了不少以聖經為主題的作品。年輕時候，林布蘭特尚在尋覓自己的風格，仍然努力從前輩畫家作品裡學習構圖與造型，而畫作體裁方面，他另闢蹊徑，焦點常常放在小人物的刻畫。例如，1627年(那年畫家二十歲)的畫作《無知的財主》，取材自《路加福音》12:13-21，畫中的財主在半夜裡仍然在算自己的錢財。除了新約的故事主題，畫家以融入十七世紀的概念，例如金幣、秤、後方牆角的時鐘、還有堆滿桌的「紙張」與文件，都與新約時代的用品迥異。《路加福音》中，耶穌善用比喻彰顯道理，而林布蘭特利用光暗的強烈對比訴說更多的故事，暗夜裡的時鐘，點出時間在不知不覺之間一分一秒消逝，財主手上的燭火也慢慢燃燒到盡頭，那一刻，生命也就瞬間結束；林布蘭特的畫隱隱重複那問號:『無知的人哪，今夜必要你的靈魂；你所預備的要歸誰呢？』(《路加福音》12:20)

   無知的財主在意的是他的財富，他的錢，我想像林布蘭特畫中的「紙張」可能是債券、地契…。而新約中常提及錢的單位是talents，這字另一意思是才能、天賦，從此觀點，很多極具天賦的人也可能是此「財主」，擁有太多，就容易陷入無知。

Luke 12: 13-21 The Parable of the Rich Fool

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest.

17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain.

19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”