Description:
Abraham Bloemaert (1566-1651)
The Prodigal Son, 1615
Oil on canvas
1058mm x 1642mm
This painting has been described as the best example of Bloemaert's work in a UK collection. Abraham Bloemaert was the founding father of the Utrecht School of painters. He was a prolific painter of religious paintings, genre scenes and landscapes. This work depicts the Prodigal Son feeding the swine having squandered his fortune. The artist has set the biblical scene in a Netherlandish landscpae showing a number of rural activities. In the background a woman feeds chickens, on the left a man binds faggots while another climbs a tree, probably collecting more twigs. Close by a man points out the Prodigal Son to a child who struggles to peer over the fence. The artist's attention to detail can be seen in the way he has captured the dramatic light and has depicted the different sets of roof tiles on the cottage in the centre of the painting.