Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, who was born on July 15, 1606 in Leiden, was the son of a miller and his parents cared a lot about his education. Rembrandt began at the University of Leiden at the age of 14 but left soon after because of lack of interest. He studied art under Jacob van Swanenburch, a local master, then under Pieter Lastman in Amsterdam. After a few months of mastering art, he returns to his hometown and take pupils under his care. Later, his marriage with a cousin of a successful art dealer, inflated his career. In 1639, Rembrandt’s wife and three children died then he remarried his housekeeper in 1649. Towards the end of his life, his son died in 1668 and his second wife died in 1669. After a life of misfortune and bad luck, Rembrandt died on Actober 4, 1669.

The Return of the Prodigal Son

The painting “The Return of the Prodigal Son” by Rembrandt has a lot of details which tie the parable and the painting even closer together. For example, since we know that the son that left had to work with the pigs to get something to eat after he had spent his half of the estate, his clothes are shown to be dirty or muddy which would be the same color of mud in the pig cage. In the parable, when the son realizes that his father’s servants have it better than he does, we don’t know how better the lives of the servants are. Until Rembrandt portrays the father’s servants as well dressed men who are surrounding the father as his son humbles himself. Some may argue that these men are can be the brother who stayed back to do work but in the parable, it clearly states that the brother who stayed doesn’t know about the prodigal son’s return until the celebration that night. Lastly I believe it’s important to observe the amount of people that are surrounding the father as his son is dropped down to his knees begging him for another chance. The bible talks about the son humbling himself before his father but it doesn’t go into detail about how embarrassing this might be for the son which means he would have to suck up his pride and do the right thing. This is also what ties the story together since the painting does a better job showing the emotions behind humbling yourself in front of someone.

Rogelio Nicolas Becerra

Class of 2020