Hyman Bloom admired works by artists such as Soutine ("Carcass of Beef", 1924) and Rembrandt ("Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp", 1632; "The Slaughtered Ox", 1655) that explored similar themes. He called the colors of a decaying corpse he had seen in a morgue "harrowing" and yet "beautiful...iridescent and pearly." Many of Bloom's paintings feature rabbis, usually holding the Torah. According to Bloom, his intentions were more artistic than religious. He began questioning his Jewish faith early in life, and painted rabbis, he claimed, because that was what he knew. Over the course of his career he produced dozens of paintings of
Dirck Tulp Dirck Tulp Dirck or Diederik Tulp (1624–1682) was the son of the surgeon professor Nicolaes Tulp and involved in the Dutch East India Company and the Civic guard. Dirck Tulp visited Moscovia with his father-in-law; he was painted in 1653 by Paulus Potter. In 1647, Dirck accompanied Albert Burgh, son of a brewer and former mayor of Amsterdam, on his mission to Russia, to build up trade connections, especially in grain. Dirck Tulp married Anna Burgh in 1650, daughter of the late Burgh. The couple lived initially on Kloveniersburgwal 65, a building given to Anna by her family. This house