The Return of the Prodigal Son

Artist Giuseppe Bazzani (Italian, 1690 - 1769)

Dateca. 1750

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 38 1/2 × 49 3/8 inches (97.79 × 125.41 cm)
Framed: 49 1/2 × 58 3/4 × 3 1/4 inches (125.73 × 149.23 × 8.26 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: acquired through the generosity of the Beckett Art Purchases Fund in memory of Samuel and Ethel Beckett

Object number2025.67

On View

Not on view

Terms

DescriptionA man, hunched over and head bowed, in tattered clothing approaches another older man in a red robe who welcomes the former with open arms. Behind this central pair, stands a man in fancy dress who casts a disapproving look down on at the half-dressed figure. To the group's left stands a figure in blue who points at the trio while looking at a young child before them almost instructing the child to look at the developing scene. The group of figures stand amongst a clouded sky. A lone white pillar stands at the rightmost segment of the canvas.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Old Masters, Palais Dorotheum, Vienna, Austria, October 11-October 23, 2025, n. 176.

Provenance

Sold, Important Old Master Paintings, Sotheby's, New York, January 30, 1997, lot 212;

With Walpole Gallery, London;

Private collection, Switzerland;

Purchased at Old Masters, Dorotheum, Vienna, October 23, 2025, lot 176 by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO.

Published References

Sotheby's, Important Old Master Paintings (New York: Sotheby's, 1997), n. 212, (repro.).

Dorotheum, Old Masters (Vienna: Dorotheum, 2025), n. 176, (repro.).

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