The father bends over the kneeling son.
Bible in art · Luke
The Return of the Prodigal Son
Rembrandt · 1636
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Rembrandt made this etching in 1636, when he was thirty; more than thirty years later he painted the same story on a large canvas. On the doorstep, the old father bends down and holds his son, who kneels barefoot in rags.
Around them the house comes to life: a servant pushes open a shutter to look, two more come down the steps with clothes and shoes. The son’s stick lies on the step where he dropped it.
From the text
- The father running to his son and embracing him (Luke 15:20)
- The best robe, a ring and sandals (Luke 15:22)
The artist’s own
- The meeting on the steps of the house, not on the road
- A servant looking out of the window
- The walking stick dropped on the step
Details
The embrace
At the window
A servant pushes open the shutter to see.
New clothes
Two servants come down the steps with clothes and shoes.
The stick
The son’s walking stick, dropped on the step.
Rembrandt van Rijn, Dutch, 1606–1669. National Gallery of Art, Washington (Gift of Ruth B. Benedict, 1991.63.2) · Etching on laid paper · NGA Open Access: "Images of these works are available free of charge for any use, commercial or non-commercial, under Creative Commons Zero (CC0)." (NGA open data: published_images.csv openaccess = 1)