Rembrandt

Rembrandt van Rijn
(1606-1669) THE NETHERLANDS
Painting of the Week - The Return of the Prodigal Son

MONDAY

Rembrandt is one of the most well-known painters of all time. In fact, his name has become a definition for being a great artist. People sometimes say “He’s a real Rembrandt”, meaning that someone’s a good artist. Rembrandt’s full name is Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn, but he’s known as just Rembrandt. He was born and lived in the Netherlands during the 1600’s, which is known as the Dutch Golden Age.

Rembrandt, self-portrait

YouTube Video - Rembrandt for Children, Meet the Artist (3:56 min.)

YouTube video - Biography of Rembrandt (2:54 min.)

TUESDAY

Return of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt

Rembrandt was a deeply religious man and many of his paintings were from the Bible. Our painting of the week, The Return of the Prodigal Son, is from the Bible parable about a man’s son who left home, got in trouble, and returned home to his father with nothing. The scene in the painting is after the son has begged his father to forgive him. The loving father is forgiving the prodigal son and welcoming him home instead of being mad. A brother who is jealous over the way his father is celebrating this son's return stands to the side. Rembrandt has purposely brightened these three characters so they stand out more in the painting. The Return of the Prodigal Son was one of Rembrandt’s final works. The painting has touched many people with the love and tenderness it shows from the father and the complete repentance shown by the son.

Prodigal means being wasteful and reckless. You can tell by the son’s clothing that he has lost all of the wealth his father had given him.

WEDNESDAY

Portrait by Rembrandt

Rembrandt - portrait of his father

A portrait is a picture of a person. Rembrandt gained a reputation as a painter of portraits. Rembrandt’s technique of making his subjects’ faces brighter than their surroundings drew viewers’ attention to the people.

Rembrandt, self-portrait

He painted many portraits for people and close to fifty self-portraits. A self-portrait is when a person paints themselves. Rembrandt is famous for all of his self-portraits throughout his life.

THURSDAY

Rembrandt developed a style in which much of the area in his paintings was dark and in shadows while the main subjects were highlighted in brighter light.

The Holy Family at Night by Rembrandt

Using much contrast between light and dark in an artwork is called chiaroscuro.

chiaroscuro definition and pronunciation

The Philosopher in Meditation by Rembrandt

Rembrandt’s use of chiaroscuro made his paintings more dramatic and interesting, such as in his famous painting, The Night Watch.

The Night Watch by Rembrandt

YouTube video - Flash mob recreates Rembrandt's The Night Watch

FRIDAY

Belshazzar’s Feast

Many of Rembrandt’s masterpieces are based on stories or characters from the Bible, such as The Return of the Prodigal Son. Rembrandt's religious paintings show much attention to detail and emotion.

Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem

Adoration of the Shepherds

Most of Rembrandt’s religious artworks are drawings and etchings, but he completed over 60 paintings with Biblical themes.

The Storm on the Sea of Galilee

Rembrandt created over 300 works of art inspired by stories from the Bible.