1868
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
The Prodigal Son is a 1868 by Charles Jacque, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This print shows a man lying on the ground under a tree, wrapped in a blanket or cloak. Nearby, a pig roots in the dirt, and a thin, barefoot boy watches from a distance. The sky is a loose, sketchy line of clouds, and the trees have quick, jagged strokes—like they were drawn fast. The title at the bottom, *L’Enfant Prodigue*, hints this is a scene from the Bible about a son who returns home after wasting his money. The artist used rough, textured lines to show both the rough clothes and the rough life. Look up Realism to see how artists like Jacque made everyday scenes feel urgent.
Charles-Émile Jacque (23 May 1813 – 7 May 1894) was a French painter of Pastoralism and engraver who was, with Jean-François Millet, part of the Barbizon School. He first learned to engrave maps when he spent seven years in the French Army.
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