Artwork Page for The Prodigal Son: Riotous Living

Details / Information for The Prodigal Son: Riotous Living

The Prodigal Son: Riotous Living

1635

Abraham Bosse

(French, 1602–1676)
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Culture
France, 17th century
Medium
etching
Measurements
Platemark: 26 x 32.5 cm (10 1/4 x 12 13/16 in.); Sheet: 26.3 x 33.5 cm (10 3/8 x 13 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
Dudley P. Allen Fund 1929.560.2
Catalogue raisonné
Le Blanc I 471, 77 (2); Blum 1185
Public Domain
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Location
101A Prints & Drawings
Print
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Did You Know?

An open window reveals the brothel's crescent-moon signboard. Such symbols may have been associated with vice in seventeenth-century Europe.

Description

In the biblical proverb of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11–32), the son wastes his inheritance at a brothel; destitute, he returns to his father and is forgiven. Though the story is meant as a lesson of repentance, artists often focused on the brothel scene, which allowed them to explore the son’s morally questionable choices. This print depicts the interior of a brothel as if it were an opulent home from the 1600s. Three women, a man, and a child distract the son to steal his coin purse. One woman holds a triangular glass of wine, highlighting the role of wine in the son’s carnal desires and eventual ruin.
Print in black ink depicting a man seated at a table in an interior while women gather around. Two embrace him from either side while turning to look up at one another. Another stands behind holding a wine glass and looking to another who reaches around the cluster towards a child picking the seated man's pocket. Fine cross-hatching shades the scene and French text runs along the bottom.

The Prodigal Son: Riotous Living

1635

Abraham Bosse

(French, 1602–1676)
France, 17th century

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