My favorite portrait came from a city founded on this day more than three centuries ago.
On May 27, 1703, Tsar Peter I (the Great) founded the city of St. Petersburg. The city became Russia’s cultural capital and most European city.
I have been privileged to visit the city twice. Each time, I was amazed by its many waterways, which reminded me of Venice, and its astounding architectural sites. St. Isaac’s Cathedral is one of the largest domed buildings in the world; the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ is one of the most stunning buildings I’ve ever seen; St. Catherine’s Palace would take a week to tour.
But the site that most enthralled me was the Hermitage. The second-largest museum in the world (after the Louvre), it was founded by Catherine the Great in 1764 and has been open to the public since 1852. The museum houses more than three million items in six historic buildings.
It has a section devoted to the paintings of Rembrandt. And it is here that I encountered his masterpiece, Return of the Prodigal Son.
The painting was completed in 1669 and is massive, standing 8.5 feet tall by 6.7 feet wide. Rembrandt depicts the prodigal on his knees in rags. His father, dressed in rich garments, bends over to embrace him. Standing at the right is the older brother, his hands crossed impassively in judgment.
Henri Nouwen’s classic, The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming, was written after the author spent several hours in front of the painting. I had read the book and been deeply moved by its call to forgive and be forgiven. Then I saw the painting and was captured by its invitation to grace.
I purchased a print of the painting in the Hermitage gift shop which Janet framed for me. It has been displayed on the wall of my study ever since.
As Nouwen notes, both brothers needed their father’s love, but only one was willing to…
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