The Prodigal Son: Riotous Living (1635): Art, History and Details

The Prodigal Son: Riotous Living (1635) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Abraham Bosse (French, 1602–1676).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

In the biblical proverb of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11–32), the son wastes his inheritance at a brothel; destitute, he returns to his father and is forgiven. Though the story is meant as a lesson of repentance, artists often focused on the brothel scene, which allowed them to explore the son’s morally questionable choices. This print depicts the interior of a brothel as if it were an opulent home from the 1600s. Three women, a man, and a child distract the son to steal his coin purse. One woman holds a triangular glass of wine, highlighting the role of wine in the son’s carnal desires and eventual ruin.

Object facts

• Title: The Prodigal Son: Riotous Living
• Date: 1635
• Creator attribution: Abraham Bosse (French, 1602–1676)
• Culture: France
• Type: Print
• Technique: etching
• Dimensions: Platemark: 26 x 32.5 cm (10 1/4 x 12 13/16 in.); Sheet: 26.3 x 33.5 cm (10 3/8 x 13 3/16 in.)
• Collection: PR - Etching
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1929.560.2

A detail from the museum

An open window reveals the brothel's crescent-moon signboard. Such symbols may have been associated with vice in seventeenth-century Europe.

Collection credit

Dudley P. Allen Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.