In the second half of the 1650s, Rembrandt suffered a series of failures. Numerous debts ruined him; his paintings brought in almost no income. Having declared his bankruptcy, the artist sold all his property and moved to Amsterdam. He was left without his collection, which consisted of beautiful objects of art, without his faithful and loving wife Hendrikje, who died after being excommunicated for an extramarital affair with Rembrandt, his son Titus fell ill with consumption, and his daughter-in-law died of despair. Sick, half-blind, abandoned by everyone, unable to hold his brush in his hand and therefore tied it with string, the artist paints his last masterpiece.

Rembrandt painting "Return prodigal son» was created shortly before the painter’s death in 1669. It depicts the ending of the plot from the Gospel parable: younger son, who once left his father’s house, returned full of repentance. Falling to his knees in front of his old father, he buried himself in his lap, hoping for forgiveness. The head of the burden is shaved bald, the clothes look more like the rags of a beggar, the shoes are worn out - the whole appearance of the wanderer suggests that he has seen a lot and gone through various trials.

The father, carefully depicted in Rembrandt’s painting “The Return of the Prodigal Son,” bowed his head over the unfortunate man, as if listening to his whisper. He leaned over his son, placing his hands on his shoulders; the old man's face expresses a feeling of sad joy and forgiveness. These two figures - father and son - seemed to become one, merging in an embrace. Bright light falls on them and on the figure of the eldest son, standing at a distance and looking at this scene with slight sadness. For Rembrandt, these three characters had their own meaning: through “The Return of the Prodigal Son” he tells the story of his own life, filled with violent passions, searches, suffering and hope.

The artist repeatedly turned to this parable. In early sketches, the painter played out this plot in different ways, either revealing the spiritual impulses of his son, or demonstrating the amazement of the old father caused by an unexpected meeting. In the latest version of Rembrandt's Return of the Prodigal Son, the emphasis is on the father figure, radiating love and forgiveness. Art critics believe that the three main characters in the painting symbolize the artist himself in different years his life.

Depicted on the canvas minor characters as if they were emerging from the shadows. Next to the older brother we see a richly dressed man in a beret, who sits with his legs crossed and watches what is happening with interest - presumably this is another brother. On background barely visible figures can be seen that may be the master's servants.

In 1766, Rembrandt’s “Return of the Prodigal Son” was purchased from the Duke de Cadrousse by Prince Golitsyn, who was carrying out orders from Catherine. The painting was placed in the Hermitage, where it remains to this day.

A. Demkin
The painting "The Return of the Prodigal Son" as a Mirror of Life by Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn.

© 2010-2011, Andrey Demkin, St. Petersburg.
Reprinting or other full or partial reproduction of the material is permitted only with the written permission of the author.

Painting is one of the most complex and most beautiful forms of art. Nothing can so instantly, in one moment, change a person’s mood, take him away from the hustle and bustle of the day, like just a glance cast at a picturesque landscape or a genre scene. Just one glance - and your breath is already filled with fresh mountain air or the aroma of lilac. Just one look - and you hear the creaking of masts, the fluttering of sails and smell the oily smell of the ship's deck. Just a few moments - and your soul is suddenly freed from the burden of problems and worries, which turn out to be insignificant against the backdrop of the painting. Having lingered in front of it for a second or even a minute, you suddenly begin to feel a new wonderful taste on your lips - this canvas has given you a magical kiss of beauty, the same one that in an instant fills you from the inside and makes you remember the beauty of the sky, the greatness of the old oak and the beautiful naivety of youth.
Hidden in the pictorial image is a whole world created by the artist. It could be something abstract, which at first glance has no analogues in ordinary Everyday life. It can be a completely realistic representation of a corner of the earth that is familiar to you. It could be just a still life. In any case, all these images underwent an amazing refraction through the artist’s soul, and acquired their own unique radiance, taste, aroma or sound - depending on how you perceive the painting. For many, in the apt expression of the St. Petersburg artist Vladimir Gruzdev, painting is “that ideal interlocutor who, having forgotten all the words, will help you become yourself.”

How does this happen? The refraction of the subject of the image by the soul of the artist has a truly magical effect on the viewer. The painting acts as a kind of mediator, a “magic crystal” that concentrates and encodes the artist’s experiences and feelings and carries its message to those who are able to consciously or unconsciously perceive it from the artist (which, I would like to note, does not mean “understand” at all). Such a “spiritualized” painting has a complex, multi-level impact on a person. The viewer can perceive the impact of the entire image created on the canvas, or only part of it. The viewer can perceive a detached - second imaginary meaning that does not at all follow from the actual content of the work of art. And finally, the viewer may be under the impression of internal images, born in the depths of his subconscious, which are not associated with either the actual or the imaginary symbolic meaning of the picture. At the conscious level of perception, the viewer does not simply “register” the elements of the work in his mind, but recognizes them, comprehends them to the best of his intellectual capabilities, and reacts, giving an emotionally charged assessment of the significant patterns of the structure of the picture. The artist and art theorist Wassily Kandinsky wrote about a special kind of influence on the viewer by the emotions of the artist’s soul, the “vibrations” of which cause a corresponding spiritual vibration of the viewer. Such an impact of a painting causes a complex human reaction at the level of psyche, physiology, behavior and even personality, which is called an “aesthetic reaction.” Within its framework, contact with a work of art can lead to awareness and resolution of internal conflicts, trigger mechanisms of personal transformation, increase personal capabilities and give a person new motives for activity or simply life.

Hidden information layers unconsciously incorporated by the artist into his painting, which can be perceived by the viewer on an extraconscious level, can be of great importance in the formation of an aesthetic reaction. Such hidden visual-informational attachments, which are a symbolic reflection of the dominant conscious or unconscious experiences of the artist during the creation of a picture, are called “visual archetypes” or “prototypes”. In some successful cases, when analyzing a painting, such a hidden prototype can be made accessible to visual perception using special image processing in a graphics editor, using ideas about the physiology of human vision.

Very interesting example A painting containing a strong “hidden” prototype can serve as the famous painting by Rembrandt “The Return of the Prodigal Son”, stored in the State Hermitage. In it, the content of the prototype, embedded in the painting by the artist on an unconscious level, confirms the hidden image, identical in meaning, which the artist placed on the canvas quite consciously.

Rembrandt Harmens van Rijn was born in Leiden on July 15, 1606 in the family of a miller and lived all his 63 years in Holland. When Rembrandt was fourteen years old, he graduated from Latin school, and his father, Harmens Gerritz van Rijn, sent him to Leiden University to study jurisprudence.
However, after a few months of study, the young man realized that he was not doing his own thing and became an apprentice to the artist Jacob van Swanenburg. The artist taught Rembrandt the basics of drawing and painting and introduced him to the history of art. Rembrandt, having studied for three years with van Swanenburg, moved to Amsterdam in 1623 and became an apprentice to the painter Pieter Lastman. Possessing natural artistic talent, Rembrandt quickly surpassed his teacher in skill.
Just six months later he returned to Leiden and opened an art workshop near the workshop of his friend Jan Lievens. Soon the first students appear in it.

At the end of 1631, Rembrandt, already a famous portrait painter and author of historical paintings, moved to Amsterdam. One of his debut works in Amsterdam was the painting “The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. N. Tulp” (1632, The Hague, Mauritshuis). This work aroused great interest, and Rembrandt soon became one of the fashionable young portrait painters of Amsterdam. He commissioned historical and biblical paintings and painted portraits of wealthy burghers, their wives and children. IN portrait works he revealed perfectly psychological condition person, which also contributed to his popularity. Growing income from painting later even allowed him to take up collecting, which over time turned into a passion. In June 1634, Rembrandt married Saskia van Uylenburg, the daughter of the late burgomaster of Leeuwarden and the cousin of the successful painting dealer Hendrik van Uylenburg, whose academy he was a member of. New family connections helped to get good orders. Saskia received a decent inheritance, with which the couple purchased big house, where Rembrandt set up his studio.

By the end of the 1930s, Rembrandt was a popular and highly paid painter, with about 60 commissioned works and 15 students. However, what was the artist like as a person? Contemporaries spoke of Rembrandt as a man with excessive pride and a complex character: quarrelsome, selfish and arrogant, capable of betrayal and very vindictive, who resorted to all possible methods of fighting those who stood in his way. The Italian Baldinucci wrote about him: “He was an eccentric of the first class who despised everyone... busy with work, he would not agree to accept the very first monarch in the world, and he would have to leave.”
Throughout his life, Rembrandt had to endure a number of difficult trials. When the artist was 29 years old, his son Rumbartus died. Three years later, in 1638, his first daughter, Cornelia, died. Another 2 years later - in 1640 - his mother Neltje van Rijn and his second daughter, also named Cornelia, died. Fate did not leave Rembrandt alone: ​​in 1641, the year of the birth of his son Titus, Saskia’s aunt Titia dies. In 1642, death takes Saskia herself. In her will, Saskia, knowing the wasteful nature of her husband, appointed her son Titus as heir to the entire estate - about 40,000 florins, and Rembrandt was only allowed to use his wife's property for life.

After the 1640s, Rembrandt gradually began to lose his popularity with the Amsterdam public. This happened partly due to the evolution of the artistic tastes of the Amsterdam public, and partly due to the drop in demand for painting due to the First Anglo-Dutch War (1652-1654). In addition, clients began to notice that Rembrandt worked more to satisfy his own desires than to listen to their wishes.

Soon, at the age of 50, Rembrandt went bankrupt, and a year later all his property and works were sold at auction. In 1658 the house also had to be sold. A new personal relationship with the nanny of his son Titus, the widow Geertje Dirks, which began in 1642, ended in tragedy. After living with Geertje for six years, Rembrandt, with the help of her brother, put the woman in a home for the mentally ill. He did this after Geertje sued him for unfulfilled promises to marry. If Rembrandt had married a second time, he would have high probability, lost the rights to a small income from Saskia's estate (her two brothers were lawyers). When the opportunity arose for Geertje to leave this establishment, Rembrandt hired an agent to collect information thanks to which this woman long years again remained within the walls of the shelter. Rembrandt was so mired in vindictiveness that for some time he stopped painting altogether. A little earlier, Rembrandt became involved with a twenty-year-old maid, Hendrikje Stoffels, who served as a model for many of his works. As a result of cohabitation with Hendrtkje, a daughter, Cornelia, and a son were born, who died in 1652. However, Rembrandt was destined to survive his third love: in 1663, Hendertkje died at the age of about forty. A year before Rembrandt's death in 1668, his son Titus died seven months after his wedding. Rembrandt's granddaughter, Titia, was born after the death of her son, and soon Rembrandt buried his daughter-in-law, remaining at the end of his life a completely lonely person.

All these misfortunes influenced the artist's style. In the second half of his life, Rembrandt began to paint more landscapes and began to depict people with a special soulful feeling, abandoning deliberate pretentiousness. True human values ​​and the refraction of Biblical stories through himself occupied his soul. How did the artist’s self-perception change? To get the answer to this question, it is enough to compare Rembrandt’s self-portraits in different periods life.

Self-portrait is a means for the artist feedback, allowing you to assess your current condition. It is no coincidence that artists love to paint them so much. Self-portrait plays an important role in the artist’s self-identification, that is, in the process of a person’s awareness of the most important life question “who am I at this stage”, and bringing himself into line with the “current present”. Self-identification is the most important moment of spiritual life, a person’s dialogue with himself (more precisely, the communication of the conscious part of himself with the unconscious part, through the perception of signs and symbols from his mirror double), when at one point - in the present, the analyzed and evaluated past merges and a personal future is constructed. Self-portrait allows the artist to form a space around the self-portrait, being in which the artist can always rely on his own image, reflecting stable self-esteem and a certain stable emotional state. Contact with your own self-portrait can cause unexpected insights, in which repressed painful experiences “break through” to the level of consciousness. A self-portrait can form for an artist a real or difficult to achieve goal in his own development, and serve as compensation for his own painful experiences.

In total, Rembrandt made about a hundred self-portraits in the form of drawings, engravings and paintings. His early self-portraits are very diverse - one can see the search for oneself in trying on different social roles, a rich spectrum of imprinted emotional states. We have selected famous self-portraits by Rembrandt for consideration and divided them into two groups: the period before the death of his wife in 1642 and the period after the main life upheavals.

In the self-portraits of the first group created between 1629 and 1640, we see the transformation of the artist’s internal image of himself. The youthful self-portrait presents the image of an inexperienced, slightly rustic Rembrandt, hunched over from uncertainty. His eyebrows are raised in surprise, his eyes are wide open, his mouth is slightly open, his hair is disheveled. His eyes, like most of his face, are in shadow, as if hiding from the viewer.
It is interesting that Rembrandt’s friend Jan Lievens at the same time (1629) presented the artist in a completely different form in the portrait. Despite the obvious similarity of facial features, a completely different character is revealed to us: A brightly lit face, a slightly arrogant tilt of the head, a glance at the viewer flowing slightly from above. Rembrandt's lips are slightly pouty, as are his cheeks. With his entire appearance, the person being portrayed wants to show contentment with life, and his small, but superiority. What a big difference between an external impression and an internal idea of ​​oneself.
An insecure person often tries to present to others a smug mask that serves as a means psychological protection for vulnerable self-esteem. However, Jan Lievens noticed and emphasized this desire of Rembrandt for protection, depicting dull, laconic clothing, a plate collar, and a thick scarf around his neck. While in the self-portrait Rembrandt appears much “open” - with the collar of his elegant collar open.

In a self-portrait taken a year later, the same inexperienced, kind young man appears before us, but with a much calmer look with a hint of a half-smile on his lips. He is no longer afraid of the viewer and reveals his entire face to him. But a great existential anxiety still wanders in his eyes: the artist wants to know what awaits him in the future, whether his path will differ from many paths already taken in this world.
During the period 1630-31. Rembrandt created several self-portraits using the etching technique, known as: “Surprised Rembrandt”, “Rembrandt looking over his shoulder”, “Rembrandt with disheveled hair”, “Rembrandt in fur hat" The varied emotional states captured in these works speak of the ongoing search for one’s own identity, attempts to find a wearable mask that would satisfy the needs of psychological safety combined with the need for adequate self-expression.

The self-portrait of 1632 presents Rembrandt as a resident of Amsterdam, an accomplished author famous painting. We see a hat, partly borrowed from a self-portrait by Rubens (1623), elegant gold buttons on a beautiful camisole, but the same half-childish face with raised eyebrows and wide open eyes. The upper part of the face seems to ask: “Is it me?”, and the lower part, with the lower jaw slightly protruding for importance, answers with deliberate deliberate slowness: “Of course - you!”
It is obvious that moving to Amsterdam, gaining fame and material wealth, meeting Saskia and entering the highest circles of society had a significant impact on the artist’s self-esteem. In a self-portrait taken in 1634, we see the artist wearing expensive furs and velvet. Material success has already been achieved, the naivety of earlier portraits is no longer there, the artist’s eyebrows are slightly knitted to keep the viewer at a distance from the almost noble gentleman, but from the artist’s parted lips, a question seems to be flying, which can be read in his eyes, full of doubts: “ Am I on the right track?

The year 1635 brought the first great loss: just two months after Rembrandt’s birth, his son Rumbartus died. A self-portrait from this time (1635-1636) is known as “Self-Portrait with Saskia on Her Lap.” Let's try to analyze the artist's psychological state reflected in this work. Many authors described this self-portrait as “joyful” or “arrogant”, proclaimed it “a hymn to human happiness”, filled with “stormy temperament, magnificent vital energy, passionate intoxication with all the blessings of existence.” Indeed, on the canvas we see a rich gentleman in a fringed camisole, in a hat in the “Austrian style”, with a sword with a golden hilt, who only for a moment looked up from his riotous feast and, without removing his hand from the beauty’s back, raised his glass, greeting the viewer . But, if you look a little more closely, you will find that this is only the external side - a “facade” or “mask” of the depicted psychological situation.

There are two people in front of us in the picture. Both of them have their backs turned to the viewer, and as if involuntarily turned around when they were called. Their poses are tense - both are clearly waiting for the seconds of decency to be counted and they can turn away into the depths of the canvas, hiding their inner world and looking at the strange board hanging on the wall in the left corner of the picture.

Il. No. 6. "Self-portrait with Saskia on her lap"
1635-1636
161 x 131 cm
Canvas, oil
Dresden. Art Gallery

The man’s face in the picture is clearly puffy - either from a long period of binge drinking, or from the tears he cried the day before. He doesn't look at the viewer. His gaze is unfocused - a slight divergent squint is noticeable in the picture. The face is distorted in a forced grimace, which can hardly be called a smile - the man’s eyes do not smile. The upper lip has turned into a thin strip. The woman on the artist’s lap does not smile either. Her eyes are rather sad. There is not a trace of joy on these faces. We prevent them from forgetting their grief in wine. Another moment and they will turn away from us.

What kind of board on the wall appears to them? Art critic A. Kamensky suggested that this is a slate board that hung in taverns of the 17th century, where they kept track of what was drunk and eaten. The author of the study makes the assumption that Rembrandt depicted in the painting not his own house, but a drinking establishment. This version is supported by other researchers who write that we are presented with an illustration of one of the sins of the Prodigal Son (M. Ricketts, 2006). In our opinion, Rembrandt is only symbolically playing with an idea that he had to realize only recently - after the death of his son: for everything you have to pay bills. And the bill for this is now constantly before your eyes - no matter how much you drown your grief in wine. This is a portrait of a person’s mental state at the beginning of middle age - a period of deep emotions, a period of conflict between the need for intimacy and internal loneliness, which, moreover, can be aggravated by the real losses of loved ones.

Since 1640, Rembrandt began to paint only portraits upper strata Amsterdam society. He no longer accepts orders from the middle class. The artist realizes that he has achieved the same position in society as Van Dyck. Just a year ago, the couple purchased on credit luxury home on one of the most prestigious streets of the city - Sint Antonis Brestraat. In 1640, Rembrandt's second daughter, Cornelia, was born. In the same year, at the age of 79, the artist’s mother dies, and he inherits the mill and a fortune of 9,960 florins.
In the self-portrait of 1640, we are presented with a sedate gentleman of the highest society in Amsterdam. Rembrandt's clothing in the style of the 16th century modestly hints at spiritual kinship artist with the great predecessors of the Renaissance: Raphael and Titian. The artist learned to restrain his emotions, as befits a person of his circle: his lips are depicted closed, but they do not have that light, ingenuous smile that shone restrainedly in the self-portrait of 1630. But despite all the formality of the class affiliation of the self-portrait, the artist is unable to hide his eternal sadness in his gaze, even if carefully disguised.

Particularly important are the changes in the artist’s self-perception at the turn of the transition from the 40s to the 50s. The ideal of wealth, a high position in society, which Rembrandt so strove for in the first half of his life, which determined his attitude towards loved ones and people around him, turned out to be just a mirage that disappeared as soon as the artist suffered severe, sobering personal losses. The self-portrait of 1652 is an attempt to testify to himself and to God his awareness and repentance of his errors. Most likely, Rembrandt wants to convince himself, consolidate the idea of ​​​​the futility of his past path and atone for his guilt before God in order to stop the final destruction of his life. He declares that he has learned the lesson and now does not turn away from fate - he is able to look her straight in the eyes, revealing all of himself to her, just as he reveals himself to the viewer in a self-portrait. Universal human values ​​and absorption in the inner world come before the external attributes of wealth and position.

The self-portraits of the second half of Rembrandt's life represent the antithesis of the self-portraits of the first half of his life. We do not consider Rembrandt's background, vestments and accessories, which are artificial and are only a secondary addition to the image of the artist's face. Everything he feels and experiences is reflected on his face. Self-portraits of the second half of life reflect the dramatic changes that occurred in the artist’s life. Under the blows of fate, Rembrandt is rapidly aging. Self-portraits show how short intervals of just three years (1652-1655-1658) change the artist’s appearance.

Rembrandt managed to move away from creating his own idealized image - the ideal to which he had previously adjusted his life. Now he is not interested in a rich dress, but in his own inner world. He acknowledges and comes to terms with his appearance, his aging, and his position. We can say that Rembrandt brilliantly depicted the path of life in his self-portraits ordinary person who lives the first half of his life in captivity of false ideals, and only after suffering the first losses, he thinks about values ​​of a different order and manages to rebuild his self-perception and his life for new conditions.

The most significant changes in Rembrandt's appearance occur at the turn of 52-53 years of age. In just a year, from the “king of painting” in the image of Jupiter, as the artist tried to portray himself in 1658, Rembrandt turned into a withered old man with a meek, sad look. The loss of rights to own a house and the change in his usual way of life had a depressing effect on the artist. The façade of wealth that Rembrandt spent so much effort building in his youth collapsed. Along with the house, traces of him disappeared old life with Saskia and Geertje his familiar everyday world disappeared. As a result, 53-year-old Rembrandt in just one year acquired the appearance of an old man, captured in a self-portrait of 1659, which he, fixing in all subsequent self-portraits, carried until his death in 1669. In this self-portrait there are no longer firmly compressed lips, narrowed eyes, a deep crease between the eyebrows due to slightly frowning eyebrows, and there is no firm positioning of the head, as in the self-portrait of 1658. Rembrandt's eyes have a natural expression of sadness, without any attempt to impart shades of severity to the look. His chin is tucked in - he is trying to behave well in front of himself, he is holding back so as not to give vent to his emotions.
In 1660, Rembrandt's bankruptcy case was completed. Rembrandt moved out of the house, which was handed over to a new owner. The rights to sell Rembrandt's works were obtained by his son Titus and Hendrikje. All that Rembrandt could now have for his work was only the table and shelter agreed upon in the bankruptcy agreement.

For the last nine years of his life, Rembrandt continued to work. His work, like his self-portraits, became more realistic. The reflection of personal ambitions disappeared from them, he again learned to follow the wishes of customers. However, financial problems had not yet been resolved, and fate could not give him a calm old age without personal losses.
In 1663, Hendrikje Stoffels dies of the bubonic plague, and can only be buried in a rented grave - there are not enough funds to buy a place in the cemetery. In 1668, Rembrandt's son Titus married the daughter of Rembrandt's friend and relative Saskia. However, after just 5 months, the son dies of the plague. Titus also only had a rented grave waiting for him, as did, a year later, Rembrandt himself, whose remains were never subsequently discovered, since there was no one to pay the rent for the grave, and the artist’s remains were most likely reburied in an unmarked grave.

In his last year, Rembrandt made several self-portraits. On one of them he depicted himself as the laughing Greek artist Zeuxis (M. Stein, 2007). This is the only known self-portrait by Rembrandt where you can see a smile, and not just barely visible traces of it. But, as before, the artist’s eyes do not laugh - he only tries to look smiling. According to legend, Zeuxis, a painter from Heraclea, founder of the Ephesian school, died of laughter when an ugly old woman offered him huge money to paint her as Aphrodite. Rembrandt, anticipating his imminent death, gave his past, wasted on false ideals, on the empty struggle of passions, which many take for the meaning of life, a bitter smile. This is the smile of a man who has realized the true values ​​of life. Most often, unfortunately, such awareness occurs only after personal losses and a person’s direct contact with death, which trigger processes of personal transformation - the release of pending goals and the manifestation of one’s true spiritual essence. From the point of view of psychologist Erik Erikson, the final part of a person’s life represents a conflict of the integrity of the individual and feelings of hopelessness. This is a time of reflection when a person, looking back on his life, can feel a sense of wholeness or unity with his past. If life's opportunities have been missed, then a period of awareness of mistakes and the impossibility of starting over begins, most often accompanied by a feeling of despair.

The painting “The Return of the Prodigal Son,” painted after everything he experienced in 1668-69, was for the artist the embodiment of a whole bunch of feelings that tormented him. This reflects bitterness over his lost youth, and an impossible desire to remake his life (the central character), a deep sense of guilt in relation to his life partners, a desire to repent and receive forgiveness for his sins (the Prodigal Son himself), fear of contempt and rejection from those around him (The Publican and the Elder Brother).
Formally, the picture was an illustration of the parable of the Prodigal Son from the Gospel of Luke (Luke 15:11-32). The best analytical theological interpretation of this picture was given by Dutch-born pastor Henry Nouwen (1932-1996), who is the author of 40 books on Christian spiritual life and the second most read Christian writer in the United States after Carol Lewis. Depressed after being committed to a mental asylum in Toronto, Henry Nouwen wrote a book about Rembrandt's painting, The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Meditation on Fathers, Brothers and Sons, detailing the symbolism of the image from a biblical perspective. His book examines in detail the biographical background for the experiences reflected in the picture.

In his work, Nouwen hypothesizes that in the main characters of the painting, Rembrandt depicted various incarnations of himself - three stages of spiritual transformation. First, Rembrandt recognizes himself as a prodigal son, repenting of his life's mistakes before his own father and the Heavenly Father, symbolically represented in the painting by his old father. The second hypostasis of Rembrandt, according to Nouwen, is the eldest son - the embodiment of the Christian conscience, the antithesis of the younger son and a symbol of reproach for his sins. The third hypostasis of Rembrandt is the old father, who accepts the prodigal son as he is and forgives him.
Henry Nouwen's version is successfully confirmed by Rembrandt's self-portrait of 1665, located in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, in which Rembrandt depicted himself as an old man with a beard. The facial features, shape of the beard and mustache, and the artist’s clothing in the self-portrait echo appearance The Elder Brother and Father in the painting “The Return of the Prodigal Son.”

However, while giving a detailed theological interpretation of the painting, Nouwen lost sight of the fact that Rembrandt was never a deeply pious person. Of course, the artist was familiar with the Bible, but he thought like an ordinary person, and the internal motives that drove him to create a picture were rather inherent in the universal psychology of an ordinary person, with his earthly passions and fears.
In our opinion, the picture is a brilliant illustration of the felt need to integrate the inner world of a person in the final stage of his life, torn apart by contradictions between parts of his personality. The Prodigal Son is the embodiment of the unconscious sphere - the habitat of the “devilish” passions that guided Rembrandt in the first half of his life. The elder brother symbolizes the supraconscious superstructures of a person’s personality - conscience and morality, conditioned by social and religious foundations. The sitting publican is another part of the artist’s subconscious, reminding of the inevitability of punishment for sins, silently waiting for the artist’s life debts to be paid.
The artist’s “I” is found in the center of the picture, and all events unfold around him in a clockwise direction. First of all, the artist identifies himself with the central character - the only man looking from the canvas directly at the viewer.

Il. No. 11. Comparison of fragments of Rembrandt’s self-portraits with the character in the painting.

This facial features young man reminiscent of Rembrandt himself in his youth, when his cheeks were not yet as wide as in the self-portrait at the age of thirty. The similarity of the facial structure, the shape of the eyes, eyebrows, mouth and nose most likely tells us that the artist depicted himself. The old Rembrandt looks from the canvas with a sad half-smile, and his eyes are full of regret. Behind him, in the kingdom of shadows, was his beloved wife, with whose death his whole life went upside down. Before him is what he so passionately desires - acceptance by the All-Forgiving Father, who, however, can also turn into a formidable Judge, repaying for sins.
In addition to appealing to the image of the spouse, female image, perhaps, is a collective, uniting all of Rembrandt’s favorite women. In addition, if we are based on the ideas of the psychology of C. G. Jung, the female image in the shadow in the upper left corner may be an image of the artist’s Anima - the female part of the soul present in every man.
The old father is the embodiment of the superconscious, the divine, located beyond the artist’s personality. The old father is an integrative principle, capable of accepting, forgiving and giving peace of mind for the rest of his life to those who were able to get through hard way transformation, awareness of your composite essence and come to the opportunity to accept yourself as you are, including all your “right” and “wrong” parts.

Empirical assumptions about the depth psychological essence the images in the painting can be verified using the theory of the symbolism of visual space
graphic field according to the scheme of art historian Mikael Grünwald and Swiss psychologist Karl Koch, shown in the illustration below:

Il. No. 12. Zones of spatial symbolism according to M. Grunwald and K. Koch:

1. Passivity zone. Life Observer Space
2. Active action zone in life
3. Impulses-instincts. Mundane everyday conflicts. Dirt
4. The beginning is regression. Fixation at the primitive stage is a passed state.
5. Zone of the Past, Mother. Introversion, beginning, birth, source.
6. Upper part: Air, Void. Bottom: Nothingness, light, desire, denial.
7. Highest point. Bottom: Goal, end, death.
8. Father, future, extraversion, matter, Hell, fall, demonism.
9. Matter. Unconscious.
10. Supersensible mind. Divine. Conscious.

When the picture is divided into visual zones, it turns out that all the characters occupy a position with a very specific symbolic meaning.
The central position at the junction of three visual zones is occupied by a young man with whom Rembrandt identifies himself first. His head is located at the junction of the zones of Consciousness, the zone of active life position(most of the head) and the passive observer zone (most of the visible part of the body). This position of the character confirms that it is with him that the artist’s real self-identification is associated - his current conscious position, which, however, largely lies in the passive position of an observer of a passing life. His active position is contained only within his thoughts, which is also confirmed by the head of the second character in a beret (the Publican) with a contemplative expression on his face, located within this visual zone.

The right hand of the character wearing a beret is in an intermediate position. Either the Publican is about to clench his fist, grabbing the fabric of his robe, or he has already released the tension and relaxed his hand, letting go of the fabric. Judging by the passive expression on his face, the second option is more likely. The left hand of the Publican, located in the same zone, rests calmly on his knee. Since this visual zone reflects the state of the mundane sphere, everyday conflicts, everything negative in everyday life, it can be assumed that Rembrandt, although he also demonstrates his once very aggressive half-clenched fist, but his subconscious (the left hand connected to the right hemisphere of the brain) has already come to terms with all the troubles of a hard, hectic life and has already given the command to consciousness (right hand) to weaken opposition to the world and reduce the level of self-control (hand letting go of clothes).

The old father - another age-related hypostasis of Rembrandt - also passively lowered his eyes downwards. His head is in the zone of a passive observer of life, which once again confirms the conclusions made about the artist’s current state based on an analysis of the position of previous characters. However, the Father's left hand is in the same quadrant as the Prodigal Son's head. This is the quadrant of the passed state and regression. Life has already been lived, mistakes have been made, and the subconscious of Rembrandt the Father accepts the right active side of Rembrandt the Prodigal Son as it is. The right hand of Rembrandt the Father touches the same zone with its fingertips, but its main part lies in the Area of ​​the Past. IN active creativity, in particular, in painting this canvas, the artist turns to the life he has lived, which is symbolized by the right hand of today's Rembrandt lying on the back of the Rembrandt of the past.

In the picture we see a brilliant illustration of reconciliation internal conflict integrity and hopelessness of the last period of the artist’s life, described by psychologist Erik Erikson.

So that the viewer has no doubts about assessing the errors of the first half of the artist’s life, Rembrandt places the face of Satan, who is in the unconscious zone, in the folds of the Prodigal Son’s clothes. Together with the satanic mask, the shod foot of the prodigal son, a waist bag (purse) and a knife ended up in the same zone. Probably, this company with Satan can be interpreted as the artist’s repressed fear of death and retribution for the desire for material wealth. This movement is illustrated by the dynamics from left to right from the bare foot in the Beginning - Past zone to the shod foot and the image of the purse. Note that the Prodigal Son's shoes turned out to be worn out - wealth did not materialize in the end. The sheathed knife is a symbol of aggression and sexuality - which is also associated with Rembrandt's past sins.

All this only led to emptiness and the expectation of imminent death (steps down from light to shadow on the right side of the unconscious zone). The character in the beret resting his feet on the same zone, as we discussed above, is already tired of resisting life and only accepts it as it is. However, the impending death really frightens the artist: the hands of the character standing on the right are clenched - the right (conscious) hand is trying to take control of the left (unconscious) part of the artist’s essence. Probably, the painting itself was for Rembrandt a powerful psychotherapeutic tool for recognizing and responding to conflicts, as well as a means of internal self-integration. The artist would like to achieve sophisticated peace (the calm and thoughtful face of the Elder Brother) as a result of his life, but he understands that this is no longer possible. All that remains is to humble yourself and show your final wisdom in this.

The artist's first beloved wife or last affection, Hendrickje, is located in the zone of Non-existence, Light and Desire. There is no need to comment on this position of a young and attractive woman, given on the canvas only by contour hints in the shadows on the canvas. What is left above - in the zone of the Divine? Alas, there is only darkness at the top and another gentle face of a demon with its tongue hanging out, hidden in the bas-relief of the capital of the column on which the central character rests.

Thus, Rembrandt perfectly, with academic precision, depicted the whole gamut of strong experiences that gripped him at the end of his years, and perfectly reflected his psychological state at the time of creating the painting “The Return of the Prodigal Son.”

We would like to touch on a few more details that are not often covered in publications about the painting in question. The fact that the problem of inevitable retribution greatly worries the author is also evidenced by the special location of the viewer’s “entry point” into the picture. The first most brightly lit detail in the foreground is the bare foot of the prodigal son. This is where the viewer most often begins to examine the painting—the “entrance into the painting.” Next to the naked foot there is a hidden symbol of Satan, and the foot itself is part of the “encrypted” prototype of Death in the picture. What it is? Our research of many famous works paintings have shown that paintings, during the creation of which the artist experienced particularly strong feelings, can contain hidden layers of images filled with symbolic images, which are a symbolic reflection of the dominant conscious or unconscious experiences of the artist during the creation of the painting. Most often these are all kinds of archetypal symbols of death. Such hidden layers of information, unconsciously incorporated into the work by the artist, can be perceived by the viewer on an extraconscious level and play a significant role in shaping the idea of ​​the painting.

It is known that one of the ways to perceive the “invisible” in a picture is to “look” at the picture with a defocused gaze. Defocus of vision due to relaxation of the muscles of the eyeball leads to the possibility of perceiving visual images using preferential vision, which has significant physiological differences from ordinary central vision. Peripheral vision is provided by the functioning of the “rod” apparatus of the retina. Unlike central - color vision, peripheral vision is achromatic. This makes warm tones in the image appear darker and cool tones appear lighter. The second important feature of peripheral vision is its reduced acuity. The combination of these two factors makes it possible to “average” the rich color palette of painting, reducing it to grayscale, and to “blur” the “fluctuations” of the shapes and outlines of the image. The result of such perception is the merging of neighboring areas of the image that are close in brightness intensity - fusion, which leads to the possibility of perceiving hidden layers of the image in a painting by eliminating color “noise” and fluctuations in the contours and shapes of the image.
To visualize hidden layers of images, we have proposed a method for computer simulation of human peripheral vision. A computer program is used for this - graphics editor, which allows you to average the color intensity values ​​of nearby image areas and convert them from a color image to grayscale. Conventionally, such image processing can be called “blur”, which resembles the final visual result of the perception of external objects using peripheral vision.
Below is an illustration of the result of a partial “blur” of Rembrandt’s painting “The Return of the Prodigal Son”:

From the presented illustration it is clear that the key images of the picture - the Prodigal Son and the Father together form a feather image - a visual archetype of death in the form of a grinning skull. The main force that motivated Rembrandt when creating the painting was the most important existential fear of man - the fear of imminent death and retribution for all his sins. The image hidden in the image discussed above was created on an unconscious level. However, the artist himself, as if wanting to once again emphasize his feelings, repeated the face of Satan in the folds of the Prodigal Son’s torn clothes. The uniqueness of the canvas lies in the fact that these hidden images coincide in their symbolic meaning.

Rembrandt Harmens van Rijn's painting “The Return of the Prodigal Son” is a beautiful multi-dimensional illustration that reveals the artist’s inner world in the last years of his life, and represents a kind of retrospective of his entire life. past life. The sincerity of the artist’s experiences, captured in the canvas, allows us to consider Rembrandt’s work from both theological and psychological points of view and obtain a symbolic meaning that carries a single meaning. This picture makes the viewer think about his own destiny, correlating his past and current situation with the seemingly distant and unreal day when he will have to take stock of his entire life.

Which saint should you pray to on what occasions?Orthodox prayers on different cases life.

The main difference between Rembrandt van Rijn's work is its timeless nature. Historically dating back to the heyday of the Dutch painting XVII century, it does not allow us to detect a clear connection to it either in terms of the themes addressed in the paintings or in artistic means, with the help of which he reveals these topics. This property of Rembrandt’s painting matures over the course of the master’s life, reaching its maximum towards the end of it.

“The Return of the Prodigal Son” is a painting that is considered to be the testament of a brilliant artist. Art historians usually date it to 1663, the year of the maestro’s death. The scale of the philosophical content of this plot and the picturesque sound of the canvas reach a truly cosmic scale.

Eternal plot

He was interested primarily in the depths of human nature, the motives of people's actions. Therefore, it is understandable why Rembrandt painted on biblical stories much more often than their contemporaries. The parable of the prodigal son is one of the most popular subjects in world painting. “The Return of the Prodigal Son” is a painting that has its own intrinsic value, but it is also a continuation of the conversation. They had their own interpretations of the parable Hieronymus Bosch, Albrecht Durer, Murillo and many other masters different countries and generations.

Rembrandt himself refers to this subject more than once - his etchings with the title “The Prodigal Son” are known. Discussions on this topic are found by researchers of Rembrandt’s work even in such a famous master’s work as “Self-Portrait with Saskia on her Knees” (1635). This is also a kind of “Return of the Prodigal Son” - a picture that they interpret as an illustration of that part of the parable that tells about the extravagance of a son who thoughtlessly spends his father’s inheritance. From this point of view, the joy of existence that radiates from the master’s paintings, painted during the happiest periods of his life, is complemented by a slightly different shade.

Painter not of life, but of spirit

The originality is also explained by his purely pictorial techniques, the use of a palette, and work with light and shadow. If the majority of the “little Dutch” and artists in tune with them are characterized by the desire for an accurate and tangible depiction of things, the expression of their material essence, then in Rembrandt objects emerge from oblivion or “from the darkness of the past,” being in close connection with the passage of time, with history. By painting “The Return of the Prodigal Son,” Rembrandt confirmed his fidelity to the special atmosphere inherent only to him, which highlights the main thing on the canvas, without depriving light of a single important detail.

And this is not just a virtuoso play by the “master of chiaroscuro,” as historians and experts on his work call the brilliant Dutchman. This is an unnecessary designation of the primacy for him of the internal content of human actions, the search for their motivating reasons. Where does the essence of man come from, who created it, and how does what defines being change? By the fact that he poses such questions and offers his answers, which are not related to the time in which he lived, neither internal nor external attributes, Rembrandt shows that he is modern and always relevant.

“The Return of the Prodigal Son”: description

His painting style is a means of creating a narrative, telling stories, which no other artist has possessed at all times. How does Rembrandt tell the ancient parable of returning home?

...We are present during the pause that occurred after the son approached the threshold of his father’s house. This pause is not silent - it rings... After all, too much has been lost - his head is shaved, like a convict’s, his shoes are worn out, he has neither the strength nor the means to achieve anything, nor even desires and ambitions. Scary ending unfulfilled hopes. The father comes out and simply puts his hands on his son’s shoulders, and he falls down, almost disappearing into the folds of his clothes. “The Return of the Prodigal Son” is a picture about the completion of all earthly paths, where at the end there will be a golden ray, similar to the one that illuminated those who met, illuminated one of the most outstanding Rembrandt images - the head of the father. This ray is the mercy that all the lost should hope for.

Questions and answers

Like his other masterpieces, Rembrandt endows “The Return of the Prodigal Son” with many mysteries and secrets. Perhaps they appeared simply because of a long temporary detachment, and at the time the painting was painted, it was clear to the audience, for example, who the other characters in the canvas were, why they looked at the newcomer so differently, with such different feelings. Why are the father's hands lying on his son's shoulders so strikingly different from each other?

With the passage of time, much has been lost, and most secrets have simply lost their meaning. Indeed, is it really important, in the end, what kind of family relationships the people present on the canvas have? Is their social status or material condition important? Now they are all simply witnesses to an exciting event - a meeting after a long separation of two loved ones, witnesses to the act of forgiveness, on which the Christian worldview is largely based.

For all time

Rembrandt van Rijn... "The Return of the Prodigal Son" is a painting that is almost literally repeated in the ending of Andrei Arsenievich Tarkovsky's famous film "Solaris", released in 1972.

Images born many centuries earlier turn out to be the most suitable for expressing the feelings experienced by main character film - Chris Kelvin, returning to his native threshold from a star system located millions of kilometers away...

Rembrandt. Return of the Prodigal Son. 1668 State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg.

"Return of the Prodigal Son" The old father found peace again. His youngest son has returned. He does not hesitate to forgive him for his wasted inheritance. No reproaches. Only mercy. All-forgiving fatherly love.

And what about the son? He reached extreme despair. Beggar and ragged, he forgot about pride. He fell to his knees. Feeling incredible relief. Because he was accepted.

Rembrandt wrote “The Prodigal Son” a few months before his death. This is the culmination of his creativity. His main masterpiece. In front of which a crowd gathers every day. What is it that attracts people so much?

Special interpretation of the parable

Before us is a plot from a biblical parable. The father had two sons. The younger one demanded part of his inheritance. Having received easy money, he went to see the world and enjoy life. Revels, card games, lots of booze. But the money quickly disappeared. There was nothing left to live on.

Next - hunger, cold, humiliation. Hired as a swineherd. To eat pig food. But this life turned out to be so hand to mouth that the son understood. The only way out is to return to my father. And he will ask to be his worker. After all, they are more well-fed than he, his native son.

And here he is at his father’s house. Meets his father. It was this moment of the parable that many artists chose for their paintings. But Rembrandt's work is completely different from the work of his contemporaries.

Take a look at Jan Steen's painting.

Unlike Rembrandt, Jan Steen was very popular. Because it fully corresponded to the tastes of customers at that time. Who wanted to see fun. Your good and well-fed life.

Hence the basket of fruit on the woman’s head. And a calf, which the delighted father ordered to be slaughtered on the occasion of his son’s return. And they even blow the horn. In order to announce to the neighbors about a joyful event in the family.

Now compare this everyday scene with a painting by Rembrandt. Who did not add minor details. We don't even see our son's face. Rembrandt does everything to make us focus on the main thing. On the feelings of the main characters.

Similar tastes prevailed in other countries. The artists added spectacular details. Thus, the Spanish artist Murillo even painted clothes on a tray. Which the father ordered to be given to his returning son.

We also see the same poor calf. Whom they want to cook in honor joyful event.

Can you imagine this calf by Rembrandt?

Of course not. Rembrandt's painting is about something completely different. Not about the external attributes of generosity. And about the father’s inner feelings.

It is much more difficult to convey this. But Rembrandt succeeds so well that all external attributes seem ridiculous. This is his genius.

Rembrandt technique

Rembrandt is completely focused on conveying the inner world of his heroes. This is reflected in his technique. We don't see standard color range. We see a fusion of red, brown and golden shades.

The paint strokes are applied abruptly, as if carelessly. The artist does not hide them. No slickness.

The chiaroscuro in the picture is also unusual. The main characters are illuminated by a dim light source. The brightest spot is my father's forehead. There is twilight all around. Which fades into almost pitch darkness in the background. Such transitions from light to shadow add emotionality.

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Down with external beauty

Rembrandt did not care about a person's external beauty. His Prodigal Son is truly tormented by life. His appearance is unpleasant. Hole in the back. Worn feet. Bare skull.

Now look at the Prodigal Son Nikolai Losev.

Yes, his clothes are worn out. Even too much. This is more of a theatrical attribute. False, of course. After all, under this holey rag there is a muscular, beautiful body. Well-haired, too. The father in white robes looks like a fairy-tale prophet. Very beautiful. Even the dog is beautiful.

Now compare this painting with Rembrandt's work. And you will understand who came out more truthfully. More emotional.

Rembrandt's personal tragedy

Rembrandt created “The Prodigal Son” immediately after the tragedy that befell him. His son Titus died. He was barely 26 years old.

He was born from his first wife. Beloved Saskia. Who died when the boy was 10 months old. The child was very welcome. Before him, the couple lost three children in infancy.

Titus was very loving son. He believed in his father's genius. And he did everything so that his father continued to create.

After creditors took away Rembrandt's house and his rich collection, he had to move to the outskirts of the city.

Titus, barely grown up, organized an enterprise selling paintings. My father's paintings sold poorly. The son traded paintings by other artists. So that my father could work calmly in his workshop.

And so Titus died of consumption.

Only work could save Rembrandt from complete madness. Drive away thoughts of suicide.

He decided to write the Prodigal Son. Like a stronghold of your dreams. One day, hug your son again. Weak, old, sick. What was Rembrandt himself like at that time? Capable of only a light touch. But just to hug.

The depth of fatherly love is conveyed through brush and paint. We empathize with Rembrandt. Although we have no idea about it. But these unconscious feelings attract our eyes to the picture even more strongly...

“You have to die several times to paint like this” Van Gogh (about Rembrandt).

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