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ART CRITICISM: The Return of the Prodigal Son

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The painting I am going to analyse is The Return of the Prodigal Son, by the Dutch artist Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, one of the most renowned Baroque painters. It is an oil on canvas which measures 205 cm by 262 cm. It was painted between 1663 and 1665, and is held in the State Hermitage Museum, in Saint Petersburg, Russia.  In this masterpiece Rembrandt rendered the famous parable of the prodigal son narrated in the Gospel of Luke (15:11-32). The son asked his father for his inheritance and left the parental home only to squander what he had received. When he lost all his wealth, he came back home, sick, starving and penniless. His old father welcomed and forgave him, feeling joyful because his son was alive and at home after all. The main figures are the son (knelt and repentant) and the father (a man both wealthy and loving). They are accompanied by some onlookers: the older son (who disagrees with the father’s compassion), two people who are supposed to be servants, an