ARTIST: Remondini

YEAR: about 1780

SIZE: 430x325mm

TECHNIQUE: Etching copper engraving

Etching published by Giuseppe Remondini (1745–1811) in Bassano, from a series setting the Parable of the Prodigal Son (as recorded in Luke 15) upon a refined eighteenth-century urban stage. Under the scene: “Filius deperditus cum parte bona dividens / El hijo prodigo reparte los bienes con el padre” (The lost son distributing his father’s goods / The prodigal son distributes his father’s goods). In the sixth scene, eager to make his own way in the world, the younger of two sons approaches his father and demands his inheritance. Remarkably, the father agrees, and the son’s share is distributed. Within the print, money is apportioned and trunks are packed as the protagonist prepares to leave home. The room’s painted ceiling depicts the ancient Greek myth of Phaeton, finding clear parallel within the parable.