John Collier (1850–1934), The Prodigal Daughter (1903), oil on canvas, 166 x 217 cm, Usher Gallery, Lincoln, England. I don’t think that Kulle’s painting quite works in this regard, but his idea was developed very successfully by John Collier. The artist appears to have set this to the viewer as a problem picture, to encourage speculation about the underlying story and its moral. Neither is there any sign of confession, forgiveness or redemption. The son hasn’t been anywhere near a herd of swine, but is clearly down at heel and his clothes are tatty. Wikimedia Commons.Īxel Kulle’s Return of the Prodigal Son from 1882 has been completely recast into a contemporary story. Axel Kulle (1846–1908), The Return of the Prodigal Son (1882), oil on canvas, 115 x 148.5 cm, Private collection. The message is not to leave repentance too late. Instead of a welcome-home feast will be a funeral wake. There can be no redemption here: even the priest looks away from the son, with his filthy bare feet. Henry Mosler’s The Return from 1879 is one of the first paintings to tell a modified version of the story, in which the younger son has returned just too late, to find his father lying dead, a priest still in attendance. Not only is Moreau’s style so different here, but there is a complete lack of symbols, ornament, and decoration: it is a simple depiction of that scene. Like Rubens, he shows the prodigal towards the end of his period of separation, when famine strikes, and the son has become destitute, working as a swineherd. Gustave Moreau’s Prodigal Son from about 1882 is unusual not only for its departure from his colourful ornate style, but for its choice of scene. Gustave Moreau (1826–1898), The Prodigal Son (c 1882), watercolor, gouache, and graphite on cream wove paper, 35.3 x 23.8 cm, Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum (Bequest of Grenville L. For example, Edward Poynter’s Prodigal’s Return from 1869 seeks authenticity with the original parable in its setting and dress. The story had remained popular with many artists from different schools and movements. Edward Poynter (1836–1919), The Prodigal’s Return (The Prodigal Son) (1869), oil on canvas, 120 x 91.5 cm, Brigham Young University Museum of Art, Provo, UT. Today I leap forward two hundred years, to see how it was depicted in the late nineteenth century. In the previous article looking at paintings telling the story of the parable of the Prodigal Son, I concentrated on masterpieces from the seventeenth century.
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