PRODIGALS ALL
  • Begin the Encounter
    • Meaning and Application >
      • Encountering the Text >
        • Text of Luke 15.1-3
        • Text of Luke 15.11-12
        • Text of Luke 15.13-19
        • Text of Luke 15.20-24
        • Text of Luke 15.25-32
      • Encountering the Literary Context >
        • New Testament Context >
          • Luke 9-19
          • Luke 15
          • The Gospels >
            • Matthew 21.28-32
            • John 7.53-8.11
            • Luke 19.1-10
          • Epistles >
            • Romans
            • Philemon
        • Old Testament Context >
          • Jacob
          • Psalm 23
          • Jonah
      • Encountering the Cultural Context >
        • Cultural Questions Luke 15.1-3 >
          • Cultural Answers Luke 15.1-3
        • Cultural Questions Luke 15.11-12 >
          • Cultural Answers Luke 15.11-12
        • Cultural Questions Luke 15.13-19 >
          • Cultural Answers Luke 15.13-19
        • Cultural Questions Luke 15.20-24 >
          • Cultural Answers Luke 15.20-24
        • Cultural Questions Luke 15.25-32 >
          • Cultural Answers Luke 15.25-32
      • Encountering the Theological Meaning >
        • Keller Prodigal God
        • Nouwen Return
        • Theological Meaning >
          • God
          • Christ
        • Early Interpretations >
          • Clement of Alexandria
          • Tertullian
          • Ambrose
          • John Chrysostom
          • Cyril of Alexandria
        • Modern Interpretations >
          • Charles Spurgeon
          • Martin Luther King, Jr.
          • Jerry Falwell
          • Barbara Brown Taylor
        • Buddhist Prodigal
    • Artistic Impact >
      • The Prodigal Son in Painting >
        • Art, Exegesis, and Interpretation
        • Palma 1595
        • Rembrandt 1668
        • Tissot 1880
        • Slevogt 1899
        • Quist 1975
        • He Qi 1996
        • Riojas 2000s >
          • Riojas interpretation
        • Janknegt 2002 >
          • Janknegt interpretation
        • Rabodzeenko 2006
      • The Prodigal Son in Poetry >
        • Christina Rossetti >
          • Rossetti poems
          • Rossetti interpretations
        • Rainer Maria Rilke >
          • Rilke poem
          • Rilke interpretation
        • Kilian McDonnell >
          • McDonnell Poems
          • McDonnell interpretations
        • Leah Goldberg
        • James Weldon Johnson
        • John Newton
        • Edith Nesbit
      • The Prodigal Son in Fiction >
        • Marilynne Robinson
        • Alexander Pushkin >
          • The Stationmaster
        • Rainer Maria Rilke
      • The Prodigal Son in Music >
        • Britten (1968) >
          • Britten Libretto
        • Popular music >
          • Robert Wilkins
          • Rory Block
          • Rolling Stones
          • Josh White
          • Keith Green
      • The Prodigal Son in Film/Drama
      • The Prodigal Son in Dance >
        • Balanchine
  • Meet your Trail Guide
  • A Suggested Path

Encountering the Prodigal Son in Painting


          Many artists from across the ages and around the globe have been inspired by the parable of the Prodigal Son, which some students of the New Testament have identified as the greatest of all Jesus’ parables    We are about to encounter the amazing inter-penetration of that story and its profound theological significance with some of the world's greatest artistic expressions.   Eventually we will have the opportunity to experience dozens of representations of the parable of the Prodigal Son in art, covering a period of over 500 years, from 1496 to the present.   

          Let me suggest three approaches to your encounter with these striking artistic depictions of the parable:
     1) Read my essay "We Would See Jesus," which a) overviews the artistic representations of the parable, b) focuses closely on two of the most outstanding examples, and c) reflects on the process of doing theology through the binocular lens of the Biblical text and art, by clicking on this link.
     2) Explore the art of some of the greatest depictions of the parable by a) studying the paintings, b) considering my questions about what you see in the paintings, and reading my analyses of the paintings, by clicking on the artist's names below.
     3) Do an internet search on any of the many others artists who have painted scenes from the parable of the prodigal son.   You will find the full list below.

Art, Exegesis, and Interpretation:    "We Would See Jesus": 
         An Essay on the Art of the Parable of the Prodigal Son


Palma
1595

Rembrandt
1668

Tissot
1885

Slevogt
1899

Quist
1975


He Qi
1992

Riojas
2000s

Janknegt
2002

Rabodzeenko
2006


 500 Years of "Prodigal" Painting      
          What follows is a list of some of the paintings (and drawings) produced by some of the world's greatest artists over the last 500 years.   You are welcome to do an internet search for any or all of the works listed--Durer Prodigal Son, e.g., should be enough.   Explore the biographies of the artists and analyses of their Prodigal paintings as your time and interest allows.

Artist                                     Country                    Date                      Content                                                             
Albrecht Durer                       Germany                   1496                      Far country – among the pigs
Hans Sebald Beham             Germany                   1538                      Far country – among the pigs
Jan Sanders van Hemessen Belgium                     1536/1540             Far country – at a tavern
Gerrit von Honthorst              Netherlands              1622/1623             Far country – at a tavern/brothel
Johannes Baeck                    Netherlands              1637                      Far country – at a brothel
Francesco Bassano               Italy                           1570s                    Return
Leonello Spada                      Italy                           1600                      Return
Il Guercino                             Italy                            1619                     Return
Salvator Rosa                        Italy                            1640                    Far country – among the “pigs”
Bartolome Esteban Murillo    Spain                          1660                    Demand/Departure/Squandering/Pigs, 

                                                                                                                    repentance/Expulsion/Return
Rembrandt                             Netherlands                1636-1668          Far country, brothel/Return/Return/Pigs/Return
Pompeo Batoni                      Italy                             1773                   Return
Matthijs Maris                        Netherlands                1859                   Home
Gustave Dore                        France                        1866                   Return
Vasily Polenov                      Russia                         1874                  Far country – brothel
James Tissot                        France                         1880           Return/Departure/Far Country/Return /Banquet/Return
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes  France                         1879                  Far country – pigs
John McClellan Swan           England                       1888                  Far country – pigs
Edward Stott                         England                       1916                  Return
Thomas Hart Benton            United States               1939                  Return
Max Beckman                      Germany                      1949                  Far country – brothel
John August Swanson         United States               1971                  Departure/Far country/Gambling/Pigs/Return
Jonathan Quist                     United States               1975                  Return
Frank Wesley                       India                             late 20thC         Return

He Qi                                   China                            late 20thC         Return
Mary McCleary                     United States               1996                  Banquet
Robert Barnum                     United States               2000                 Return
James Janknegt                   United States               2002                 Far country/Return/Banquet
Oleg Korolev                         Russia                         2003                 Return
Andrei Rabodzeenko            Kirgizstan                     2006                 Far Country – pigs
Edward Rojas                       United States               2000s                Far country/Return
Christopher Koelle                United States               2008                 Return 


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