The Return of the Prodigal Son

A father welcomes his son home

In the parable told by Jesus, a young man wastes his inheritance and returns home in rags, expecting to be treated as a servant. His father runs to embrace him. Rembrandt painted the moment of the embrace near the end of his life, around 1668.

The huge canvas belongs to the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.

Two hands on a shaved head

The old father, nearly blind, bends over his son and rests both hands on his back. Many viewers notice that the two hands look different, one broader and one more delicate, as if they expressed both a father’s strength and a mother’s tenderness. That reading is popular but not documented.

The son kneels with his shaved head pressed against his father, his clothes torn, one sandal fallen off.

The elder son watches

At the right stands a tall man in a red cloak, usually identified as the elder brother, who in the parable resents the welcome given to the wastrel. He looks on without joining in.

Other figures watch from the shadows. Their faces are barely lit, so all the light falls on the reunion.

A painting of forgiveness

Rembrandt painted it after years of loss, including the deaths of his wife and his son Titus. The warm reds and golds, the thick paint and the deep shadows give the scene a quiet, inward feeling.

The parable in Luke’s Gospel

The story of the prodigal son appears in chapter 15 of the Gospel of Luke. A man has two sons. The younger asks for his share of the inheritance, leaves home and spends everything in wild living. When famine strikes, he works feeding pigs and longs to eat their food. Finally he decides to return and ask his father to take him back as a servant.

The father sees him coming from far away, runs to meet him and embraces him. He orders a feast to celebrate. The elder son, who stayed and worked faithfully, is angry. The father answers that they must celebrate, because his brother was dead and is alive again, was lost and is found.

The returning son

The son kneels with his back to us. His head is shaved, like a prisoner or a beggar. His clothes are torn and his sandals are worn through; one has fallen off, revealing a calloused sole. He presses his face against his father’s chest. We cannot see his expression, which makes his gesture even more moving.

The father’s red cloak wraps around both of them, forming a single shape of warm colour at the left of the canvas.

Watchers in the shadows

At the right stands a tall man in a red cloak, usually identified as the elder brother. He looks down at the scene without moving, his hands clasped. His face shows no joy. Behind him, other figures emerge from the darkness, hardly visible.

The contrast between the warm, glowing embrace and the cool distance of the watchers mirrors the parable itself: forgiveness on one side, resentment on the other.

A painting that changes lives

The painting has moved many viewers deeply. The Dutch priest and writer Henri Nouwen spent days in front of it at the Hermitage and wrote a book, The Return of the Prodigal Son, about how it changed his understanding of faith and forgiveness. The book became a classic of spiritual writing and brought many visitors to Saint Petersburg to see the picture.

How it reached Russia

The painting was bought for the Russian imperial collection by Catherine the Great in the 1760s. It has been in Saint Petersburg ever since, one of the treasures of the Hermitage, which holds an important group of Rembrandt’s works.

Where to see it

The Return of the Prodigal Son hangs in the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. Our hand-painted oil reproduction follows this composition. For more of the world’s great pictures, explore our top 100 most famous paintings.

Questions about The Return of the Prodigal Son

Where is it?

State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg.

When was it painted?

Around 1668, near the end of Rembrandt’s life.

Who is the man in red at the right?

Usually identified as the elder brother from the parable.

How large is it?

About 262 × 205 centimetres, oil on canvas.

Who bought the painting for Russia?

Catherine the Great, in the 1760s.

Who wrote a famous book about it?

The Dutch priest Henri Nouwen, in The Return of the Prodigal Son.

Sources and image credit

• Wikimedia Commons: Return of the Prodigal Son (Google Art Project)

Public-domain reproduction of The Return of the Prodigal Son (about 1668), via Wikimedia Commons (Google Art Project). Detail images are crops of the same historical painting; no reconstruction or upscaling.