# The Prodigal Son

[View the canonical artwork record](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/laemen-christoffel-jacobsz-van-der-ra1d67e0db7e4c6/the-prodigal-son-r5ad4f17d9af04d>)

## Artwork

- Artist: [LAEMEN, Christoffel Jacobsz van der](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/laemen-christoffel-jacobsz-van-der-ra1d67e0db7e4c6>)
- Date: 1601-1650
- Technique: Oil on panel, 57 x 74 cm

## Commentary

LAEMEN, Christoffel Jacobsz van der \(b. ca. 1606, Antwerpen, d. 1651, Antwerpen\) The Prodigal Son c. 1640 Oil on panel, 57 x 74 cm Private collection The story of the Prodigal Son allows the painter ample scope to display his talents. The elegant figures with their colourful attire, and the pictorial beauty of the pronk still-life on the table all add to the picture&#39;s charm. The painting shows close parallels to the merry company pieces by Dirck Hals. Van der Laemen, however, works in a swifter and looser painterly style, using a thick impasto. The contours have been kept vague and this sfumato effect brings the figures into relief.

## Related artworks

- [Interior with Figures Playing Cards](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/laemen-christoffel-jacobsz-van-der-ra1d67e0db7e4c6/interior-with-figures-playing-cards-r5a653265abc047>)

## Attribution

[Web Gallery of Art](<https://beta.wga.hu/pages/about>)