Returns
Don't call it a comeback
The Infinity of Lists is a curated collection of curious lists.
Summer has turned to autumn. Time has passed. Leaves fall from the trees. The lists return with a list about returns, and it is soundtracked by:
There could be a backlash, I suppose. It’s been a while. But play that horn, Freddie, and lead us to another…
10. Prodigal Son
Rembrandt van Rijn, Return of the Prodigal Son, c.1668 (via Wikimedia Commons, from the Hermitage Museum)
He’s been away. Maybe in Amsterdam. Maybe in Berlin. He’s been reckless. Wayward. Lost his phone, his bank cards, and one of his shoes. But finally, he’s come back. He kneels, exhausted. His father embraces him, whispers that it’s all going to be alright. A celebratory feast is in order. No expense will be spared. But peering from the darkness, the other sibling thinks—why all this fuss? I’ve been here the whole time, putting in the work, Dad, and you’ve never even roasted a potato for me.
9. Exile
Ilya Repin, They Did Not Expect Him, c.1884-1888 (via Wikimedia Commons, from the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow)
They thought he was dead—swallowed up by the frigid north of exile. They did not expect him to come back. And yet, here he is. An unexpected resurrection, made to fading notes from the piano. They watch him as he absorbs the details of the room, its placid and unfamiliar arrangement. And between them, they all have the same question—where is his place now?
8. Panther
The Fifties returned! (When?) The Sixties will return! (2060?) But this is the greatest return of them all, apparently. No pressure. A bold claim to put on a poster, but you can’t really argue with that nose, that panther, and that theme tune.
7. Olivia
Francis Wheatley, Olivia Returns to Her Family, undated (via Wikimedia Commons, from Yale Center for British Art)
Olivia returns to her family. And how does she feel about it? What’s she been up to? Has she attempted to exercise what little control she is able before being dragged right back? Has her father broken his arm in looking for her? Or has he just made a meal out of the whole situation and is kind of making it all about him? Answers on a postcard.
6. Aftermath
Thomas Cole, The Return, 1837 (via the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC)
The sun sets. It’s been a long journey. The injuries are mounting. The losses pile up. The animals beneath the tree gaze at the stretched-out procession that makes its weary way back home. And in their eyes, the faintest of questions—was it worth it?
5. |\RETURN
just need a bit of a
break
a little
/
/
space
will come back when I’m
ready
4. Obra Dinn
Return of the Obra Dinn title image, 2018 (via Lucas Pope)
A boat returns to shore. There are no survivors on board. You are tasked with piecing together exactly what happened. For insurance purposes, mostly. How each of them died, and who was responsible. It’s a tough task, but someone’s got to—slowly, very slowly, after multiple game sessions and with perhaps a little help from the internet—do it. Why not you?
3. Horses
Rosa Bonheur, Return from the Horse Fair, 1873, (via the Cleveland Museum of Art)
We’ve come back from the Horse Fair. We’ve got a lot of horses. Possibly too many horses. We may come to regret this.
2. Sherlock
Arthur Conan Doyle, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, 1905 (First Edition cover, via Wikimedia Commons)
He sits by the window, in the cool of the evening and the glow of the lamplight, and considers. He had been quite happy in the quiet. He had become used to his distance from the buzz. Mostly. And yet. There are still cases to solve. There is truth to be uncovered. There are readers to please. There’s nothing for it—but to come back.
1. Magdalene
Artemisia Gentileschi, Mary Magdalene as Melancholy, c.1622-1625 (via Wikimedia Commons, from the Museo Soumaya, Mexico City)
She waits, in a fog of draining melancholy. Her cheek presses against her wrist, her tears pool against the curve of her nose. She waits, and she waits, for something that may never come. As her eyelids droop and she is pulled into sleep, she cannot hold back the thought—will it be worth it in the end?
Very good question.
(Did a much-anticipated return fulfil your expectations? Or what cultural curiosity would you like to see come back?)