Saints & Sinners in Great Art Part 2
Timken Virtual Tour: The Fame of the Prodigal Son: Il Guercino's Many Portrayals of Him The Italian artist known as Il Guercino (“squint-eyed”), and sometimes dubbed “the Rembrandt of Southern Europe,” painted numerous versions of the parable of the Prodigal Son from the Gospel of Luke. A comparative study of five of these paintings, one of which is on exhibit in the Timken, raises some interesting questions about how the artist may have wanted his portrayal of the parable to relate to viewers given his 16thcentury historical context. Some brief comparisons with “the Northern” Rembrandt’s own version will also be made. Saints and Sinners in Great Art Join Timken Docent and USD Professor of Biblical Studies (ret.) Dr. Florence Gillman for presentations about the famous saints and sinners in some of the Timken’s masterpieces. There is so much more to find out about their stories and their artistic portrayals than we often realize. Lecture held on Zoom.