NO.120
Notice too that the caressing,
feminine hand of the father parallels the
bare wounded foot of the son, while the
strong masculine hand parallels the foot
dressed in a sandal. ‘Is it possible,’ asks
Nouwen, ‘that the one hand protects the
vulnerable side of the son, while the other
reinforces the son’s strength and desire to
get on with his life?’
T H E T R U S T Y S E RVA N T
• Parental forgiveness should require no
apology and no explanation. In the
parable the father ran to greet the
younger son and in the painting the
father blesses him before he has kitted
him out for the feast. The father’s
welcome and his forgiveness is
spontaneous, heartfelt, comprehensive
and unconditional.
Is this why Rembrandt
put a figure of the woman
with eyes full of compassion
in the centre of the picture?
It would appear that
Rembrandt is saying that
God the Father is both male
and female. On that basis we
should really be talking
about parenthood, not
fatherhood.
Notice the red cloak or
rather the two red cloaks.
Red represents warmth; the
tent shape represents
protection, the sheltering
wings of the mother. The
second red cloak is on the
shoulders of the elder son. Is
Rembrandt expressing the
hope that the elder son will
come to recognise that in the
end he too will become the
father?
The extraordinary thing
is that Rembrandt was
financially broke in 1666
and his son Titus was given
full power of attorney. He
was the most famous painter
in Holland but was barely
willing to accept any
commissions. Yet at 8ft high and 6ft wide
The Return of the Prodigal Son was by far the
largest painting of his final years not
commissioned. Why? Because the only
thing that Rembrandt wanted to do was to
communicate to future generations that
everybody had a loving, heavenly Father.
So what does the picture of the
parable lead us to conclude?
inadequate we feel ourselves to be, our
heavenly Father see