The Prodigal Son Amid the Swine
Albrecht Dürer
(German, 1471–1528)
probably 1496
Medium/TechniqueEngraving
DimensionsPlatemark: 24.4 × 18.9 cm (9 5/8 × 7 7/16 in.)
Sheet: 24.7 × 19 cm (9 3/4 × 7 1/2 in.)
Sheet: 24.7 × 19 cm (9 3/4 × 7 1/2 in.)
Credit LineSeth K. Sweetser Fund
Accession number32.537
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPrints
Collections
According to the biblical parable, the Prodigal Son was reduced to dining with pigs in a farmyard after squandering his money. The closely observed swine and the rustic setting inspired the depiction of similarly naturalistic subjects by later artists.
ProvenancePeter Lely (b. 1618 - d. 1680; Lugt 2092), London. John Spencer (b. 1708 - d. 1746; Lugt 1532), Althorp; by descent within the collection of the Earls of Spencer, Althorp; June 25, 1919, Althorp sale, Christie, Manson, and Woods, London, lot 43. By 1922, FitzRoy Carrington (b. 1869 - d. 1954), Niantic, CT; 1932, sold by FitzRoy Carrington to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 1, 1932)
