The father’s face above the son’s, as he holds him.
Bible in art · Luke
The Return of the Prodigal Son
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo · 1667/1670
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo painted this very large canvas — about 2.4 by 2.6 metres — around 1667–1670 for the church of the Hospital of Charity in Seville, one of a series on works of mercy. Taken to Paris by a French marshal in 1812, it later hung in London before coming to Washington in 1948.
Where Rembrandt’s etching is a quiet doorstep, Murillo fills the scene with the feast that follows: the calf being led in, servants with new clothes and a ring, a small white dog jumping up at the son.
From the text
- The father’s embrace (Luke 15:20)
- The best robe, a ring on his hand, sandals (Luke 15:22)
- The fattened calf for the feast (Luke 15:23)
The artist’s own
- A small white dog greeting the son
- A boy and a servant with an axe leading the calf
- The father in a red cloak of the painter’s Spain
Details
Father and son
The ring
A servant holds up a gold ring with a red stone.
The calf
Led in by a boy, with a servant carrying an axe.
A small dog
Jumping up at the son on the step.
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Spanish, 1617–1682. National Gallery of Art, Washington (Gift of the Avalon Foundation, 1948.12.1) · Oil on canvas · NGA Open Access: "Images of these works are available free of charge for any use, commercial or non-commercial, under Creative Commons Zero (CC0)." (NGA open data: published_images.csv openaccess = 1)