1591 - 1666
The Return of the Prodigal Son
1654 - 55
Oil on canvas
61-1/4 x 57-1/2 in.

The parable depicted by Il Guercino (a nickname meaning "squint-eyed") is the one most frequently represented in Western art as teaching repentance and forgiveness.

Taken from Luke 15:11- 32, the story tells of a younger son who squanders his share of an inheritance and returns home to beg his father's forgiveness. Guercino shows the moment when the impoverished son is welcomed with compassion by his father, dressed as a wealthy man of the eastern Mediterranean region. The father sends his servant, in seventeenth-century Italian costume, to bring fine clothes for his penitent son and to kill a fatted calf for a feast. Guercino painted the subject on seven occasions, beginning in 1619.

Like other late works by the artist, this one is characterized by its clarity and simplicity.