Return of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt van Rijn Poker Cards

The Return of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt van Rijn, oil on canvas c. 1665, depicts a scene from a parable of redemption as told by Jesus in the New Testament. A father gives his younger son his inheritance, and the son wastes his fortune on extravagant living in a foreign land until he winds up penniless and herding pigs. The son repents and returns home to his father, who forgives the son and celebrates with a feast. Rembrandt painted, drew and etched a few versions of Prodigal Son, but this painting epitomizes the mastery of painterly, chiaroscuro technique, expressiveness from years of study of the human face and figure, and the artist’s remarkable depth of feeling and empathy for mankind. Rembrandt reputedly based many of his subjects on studies of his neighbors in the Jewish quarter of Amsterdam around his home and studio. Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606 - 1669) was a Dutch painter and printmaker born in Leiden and active in Amsterdam during the height of the Dutch Golden Age of painting. Rembrandt apprenticed briefly with the painter Pieter Lastman before opening his own studio, where he went on to create many portraits, paintings and prints with Biblical, mythological and historical themes. Enjoying great success and fame as a portraitist and history painter, the artist experienced personal and financial hardships after the death of his wife, Saskia. Universally revered as one of the greatest painters and printmakers in Western art, Rembrandt is known for his deep empathy for the human condition. Rembrandt forged his innovative, painterly technique in his own observations of human life and deep study of classical art, the Renaissance, and the form and expression of the human figure.