The Return of the Prodigal Son by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

The Return of the Prodigal Son by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

The father runs out

The son has come home. He kneels on the threshold in rags, and his father, an old man in a heavy red cloak, bends down to embrace him. Around them the household is already in motion: a servant brings a new robe and shoes, another offers a ring, a boy leads in the calf for the feast, and a little white dog jumps up in welcome. Murillo paints the Gospel parable as a real homecoming in a Seville street.

Mercy made visible

It was painted for the church of the Hospital de la Caridad in Seville, a brotherhood dedicated to burying the dead and caring for the poor. The church was decorated with a cycle of the Works of Mercy, and this picture stood for welcoming the stranger and clothing the naked. Murillo was himself a member of the brotherhood.

Scattered, and in Washington

The Caridad’s pictures were looted by the French in 1810, and several never returned. This one reached the United States in the twentieth century and was given to the National Gallery of Art in Washington.

Where it hangs

The canvas is in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and measures 236 by 261 centimetres.

About this print

Made from a 4,000-pixel photograph of the original, enough to print sharply at up to about 26 inches on its longest side.

Sources: National Gallery of Art, Washington · Wikidata Q11825956 · Wikimedia Commons