ART CRITICISM: The Return of the Prodigal Son
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, and a mysterious woman
sunk in the darkness.
At
firts glance, it is already noticed that Rembrandt used clear theatrical
effects to achieve immediate impact. This is Caravaggio’s method (see, in this
blog, Interesting Fact: The Inverted
Cross (‘The Crucifixion of Saint Peter’)), and Rembrandt learnt from it. It
could be said that Caravaggio blazed a trail when it comes to the use of chiaroscuro, which later on was emulated
by painters such as Bartolomeo Manfredi, Georges de la Tour, José de Ribera or
Rembrandt, among others. This method (Caravaggianism)
encompasses the following features: a contrast between light and darkness, few
figures, certain spots on which the light focus, and main figures in the foreground.
Regarding the mentioned contrast, dark areas are theatrically effective as they
attract our attention and draw us into the picture by simplifying the
composition. In this painting, the abruptly applied brushstrokes emphasize the
intensity of the tragedy and the painting in general.
Magdalene with the Smoking Flame, oil on canvas by Georges de la Tour (1640-1645), Musée du Louvre, Paris |
The
artwork is dominated by the idea of the victory of love and compassion (as the
highest human acts) over revenge and resentment. The father’s hands, one
delicate and pale, the other stronger and darker, are above his son’s shoulders
in a timeless gesture of love and forgiveness. Hands have pride of place in
Rembrandt’s works because they appear to harbour an essential meaning. A good
example of this is Isaac and Rebecca, also
known as The Jewish Bride. The human
drama is expressed in the figures of both father (with vivid highlights on his
hair, face and beard) and son (barefoot, wearing tattered clothing, a robe used
as a belt, and shaven head).
From
my point of view, Rembrandt achieved to use a particular human tragedy as a
symbol with universal meaning. As a matter of fact, the clothes depicted in the
painting could belong to the period in which the painter lived, thus stressing the
idea that the story was a current or timeless drama. The main message in this
parable, which is brilliantly conveyed in the painting, is that divine justice
has its own criteria, which can be summarized in a few words that appear in another
parable of the Gospel of Luke, ‘The Lost Sheep’ (15:3-7): “there shall be more
joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just people who
need no repentance”. The father, like God, does not want to condemn or punish,
but rather free and bring his son back to the community. In the Gospels Jesus
does not seek to awaken guilt in human hearts, but a transformation that leads
to a fundamental change of heart and way of living, with its behavioural fruits
(metanoia). Hence, Rembrandt seems to
pose such an uneasy question: ‘Would we have been magnanimous like the father
or have remained resentful like the older son?’
Best
regards,
Jacobo
González
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