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The Return of the Prodigal Son
1636
Not on view
In his treatment of Saint Luke's parable, Rembrandt turned to his print collection for a visual prototype. He closely patterned the composition after a sixteenth-century woodcut of the same subject designed by the Dutch artist Maerten van Heemskerck. Specific features of the setting may be traced to Heemskerck's print, such as the arched opening onto a distant view of the killing of the fatted calf, but the poignant embrace is all Rembrandt's own.
- Artist
- Rembrandt van Rijn
- Title
- The Return of the Prodigal Son
- Date
- 1636
- Object Type
- Medium
- Etching
- Dimensions
- Plate: 158 x 136 mm (6 1/4 x 5 3/8 in.)
- Credit Line
- Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts
- Accession Number
- 1963.30.183