Esther in the Age of Rembrandt is an art exhibit that has brought much unexpected visibility to queen Esther—the heroine of the Purim story. This exhibit, created and toured collaboratively between the Jewish Museum in New York, the North Carolina Museum of Art, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, highlights the significant impact Esther had across the Christian art world, and how her heroism was portrayed in artworks across the rainaissance.
The leading thinkers behind this acclaimed show are coming together at The Vilna to talk about the show, Esther, and what this all means.
Panel conversation betwen Diana Greenwald of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Michele Frederick of the North Caroline Museum of Art, and Abigail Rapoport of The Jewish Museum, with moderation from The Vilna's Managing Director of Strategy and Impact, Laura Mandel.
Diana Greenwald
Diana Seave Greenwald is an art historian and economic historian. Her work uses both statistical and qualitative analyses to explore the relationship between art and broader social and economic change during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, particularly in the United States and France. Diana’s first book, Painting by Numbers: Data-Driven Histories of Nineteenth-Century Art, was published by Princeton University Press in 2021.
She is currently the William and Lia Poorvu Curator of the Collection at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. At the Gardner she has written, co-authored, or edited many exhibition catalogs and books: Allan Rohan Crite: Neighborhood Liturgy (2025, co-editor with Christina Michelon), Manet: A Model Family (2024, editor), Betye Saar: Heart of A Wanderer (2023, editor), Fellow Wanderer: Isabella Stewart Gardner's Travel Albums (2023, co-editor with Casey Riley), Isabella Stewart Gardner: A Life (2022, co-authored with Nathaniel Silver), and Isabella Stewart Gardner: Dog Lover (2020).
Michele Frederick
Michele Frederick is Curator of European Art and Provenance Research at the North Carolina Museum of Art, where she is responsible for the Museum’s important collection of Northern European paintings. She holds a PhD in seventeenth-century Dutch art from the University of Delaware. She has previously served as the Samuel H. Kress Foundation Interpretive Fellow at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Samuel H. Kress Predoctoral Fellow at The Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
Abigail Rapoport
Abigail Rapoport is the Curator of Judaica at the Jewish Museum. She previously worked on Judaica within the European Sculpture and Decorative Arts department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Rapoport holds a PhD in medieval art history from the University of Pennsylvania where she also received her MA in seventeenth-century Dutch art. Her prior exhibition, Beauty and Ritual: Judaica from the Jewish Museum, New York originally ran at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in 2022 and will be traveling to the Frist Art Museum, Nashville in 2026. Abigail was listed on New York Jewish Week’s “36 to Watch” in 2022 and recognized by the Borough President of Manhattan for her work in Jewish culture and art. Abigail currently serves as a board member on the Council of American Jewish Museums.
Laura Mandel, Moderator
Laura Conrad Mandel is an artist, public art advocate, and social entrepreneur. She joined The Vilna as Managing Director of Program Strategy and Impact after serving as founding Executive Director of the Jewish Arts Collaborative. Laura came to the non-profit world after graduating Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in Art and English, and began her career as the Director of Alumni and Parent Relations for the Hillel Jewish University Center of Pittsburgh. She currently serves as the Board Chair of the Council of American Jewish Museums, co-chair of the Boston Lyric Stage Advisory Committee, is a member of the MASSCreative Advisory Council, and the JCRC Boston Council. Mandel writes regular arts and culture blogs for JewishBoston.com and The Times of Israel.