The Prodigal Son

c. 1496

Albrecht Dürer

Artist, German, 1471 - 1528

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    plate: 24.6 × 18.8 cm (9 11/16 × 7 3/8 in.)
    sheet: 24.9 × 19 cm (9 13/16 × 7 1/2 in.)

  • Accession

    1943.3.3459

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Meder, no. 28


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

David Bernhard Hausmann [1784-1873], Hanover (Lugt 377); (Richard H. Zinser, Forest Hills, NY); purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], 1940; gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1949

  • Goethe as a Print Lover: to Celebrate the Bicentennial of his Birth, Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA, 1949, no catalogue.

1953

  • Nuremberg and the German World, 1460-1530: Prints and books from the Kress and Rosenwald Collections, NGA, 1953.

1955

  • Miniatures and Prints from the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection, NGA, 1955.

1965

  • Selected 15th Century Prints from the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection, National Gallery of Art, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, 1965, no. 56.

1971

  • Albrecht Dürer: The Early Graphic Works, Princeton University Art Museum, NJ, 1971, no. 51.

1999

  • Religion and Politics: The Renaissance Print in Social Context, Marsh Art Gallery, Richmond, 1999, no. 13.

2018

  • Sharing Images: Renaissance Prints into Maiolica and Bronze, cat. by Jamie Gabbarelli, NGA, 2018, plate 45, repro.

2022

  • Murillo: Picturing the Prodigal Son, Meadows Museum, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, 2022.

  • Murillo: Picturing the Prodigal Son, Meadows Museum, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, 2022, unnumbered catalogue.

Bibliography

1932

  • Meder, Joseph. Dürer-Katalog; ein Handbuch über Albrecht Dürers Stiche, Radierungen, Holzschnitte, deren Zustände, Ausgaben und Wasserzeichen. Vienna: Verlag Gilhofer und Ranschburg, 1932. Reprint. New York: Da Capo Press, 1971.

1992

  • Taggard, Mindy Nancarrow. Murillo's Allegories of Salvation and Triumph: The Parable of the Prodigal Son and The Life of Jacob. Columbia, Missouri and London, 1992: p. 58.

1999

  • Johnson, Charles. Religion & Politics: The Renaissance Print in Social Context. Exh. cat. Marsh Art Gallery, University of Richmond, 1999: no.13; illus., p.25.

2001

  • Schoch, Rainer, Mattihas Mende, and Anna Scherbaum. Albrecht Dürer: Das druckgraphische Werk. Munich, 2001: vol. 1: no. 9.

Inscriptions

bottom, in plate: AD [artist's monogram]; verso, upper left, in graphite by a later hand: 206; center, in brown ink by a later hand: 209; lower left center, in graphite by a later hand: B.28 D.10; lower left, in graphite by a later hand: J.4940 / K.906V; bottom left, in graphite by a later hand: B-6489 [upside down]

Wikidata ID

Q64952605


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