The Prodigal Son
1496
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
About the artist
Artist
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer spent his life in Nuremberg, a busy German city where artists traded prints like currency.
See the richer artist page1496
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
The Prodigal Son is a 1496 by Albrecht Dürer, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This engraving shows a man in simple clothes standing over a messy group of pigs. He’s holding a piglet by its back legs while others root around him. Behind him, a village with steep-roofed houses and a tall tower fills the background. The scene looks dirty, with pigs sprawled on the ground and a bucket nearby. The man’s posture and the pigs suggest a moment of hard work or maybe even a lesson. The artist used sharp lines to show every wrinkle in the clothes and fur, making the scene feel real. Look up Renaissance to see how artists like this one changed European art.
Albrecht Dürer spent his life in Nuremberg, a busy German city where artists traded prints like currency.
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