Types and Shadows Exhibit at Museum of Art

I had such a wonderful experience on our excursion to the Museum of Art on Wednesday. I love art anyway, but so intrigued by the insight we received on the tour. It was especially neat to hear all of the comments of my classmates and their perspectives coming from different backgrounds and academic interests. I gained a lot from the exhibit, both academically and on a spiritual level.
The portion of the Types and Shadows exhibit that stood out to me the most was the section with the paintings detailing the Savior’s parable of the Prodigal Son. There were two paintings in a row and across from each other that I especially focused in on and compared with one another. One of them of them seemed very abstract; it was divided into three panels and had apples, grapes, glasses of wine, a miniature “fatted-calf,” and blue cloth, all different shades and gradations of color. At first I was confused by its meaning. My first impression of the painting was quite a different interpretation than several of my fellow classmates ended up mentioning; however, my ideas opened up an important insight for me personally. I viewed the three panels instinctively as the three phases of our life: the pre-existence, life on earth, and life in the world to come. The dreary, dull, vague colors of the middle panel made me think of this, especially when compared with the images of the vibrant, ripe fruit in the adjoining panel.
I then turned my attention to another painting depicting the father embracing the prodigal son with such sincere love and tenderness. The prodigal son has one foot on the stair, and his father has come down one stair to meet his son. A deeper meaning of this piece suddenly dawned on me. I immediately saw the connection between the father and our Savior. He is reaching out, ready to receive the son and even comes part of the way down to embrace him with open arms. A flood of thoughts connecting the scriptural story and these two paintings flowed through my mind and resulted in quite the spiritual epiphany.
As simple as it seems to me now, I realized an important application I have always missed with this parable of the prodigal son. Whenever I have studied it in Sunday School or in my own personal study, I have always heard it applied to wayward children, or those who leave the church and need to be welcomed back into the fold with open arms. I guess I’ve thought about it, but it’s never completely occurred to me that each of us is the prodigal son. It has a very real personal application. We all fall short, we’ve all gone astray. Jesus Christ is there the whole way through, waiting to welcome us home. Through his atonement, we can be forgiven, and He will welcome us with open arms into His sincere, loving embrace.
I thought it was an amazing experience that the types and shadows represented in these two paintings really brought me to the realization that I have been missing a very significant personal application in a parable I have studied all my life. I appreciate the beauty and the deeper understanding that this terrific experience brought to me.