The Return of the Prodigal Son Oil on canvas, 1823 by Stapleaux, M. S. (1799-1881) and David, J. L (1748-1825)
Michel Guislain Stapleaux was a pupil of the acclaimed French painter Jacques-Louis David. The Return of the Prodigal Son conveys the legacy of David as a pre-eminent artist in the Neo-classical style, with its noble simplicity, heightened expression of feeling, and belief that art should express ideal virtues that could transform society. The painting captures a poignant moment in the Gospel of Luke 15:30-32 when the wayward son, returning home after wasting his inheritance, kneels before his father in repentance. He begs for forgiveness and a renewed place in the family, as the father receives him with a gesture of unconditional love. Cowering to the right behind a stone fountain is the older brother, who in the parable, objects to the father’s compassion for the sinful son: “Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed a commandment of yours, but you never gave me a goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this, your son, came, who has devoured your living with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.” To cement the moral of the parable the father replied, “But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found”. The painted landscape includes naturalistic details such as the decayed wooden fence on the outskirts of the prosperous stone farmhouse, reiterating the parable’s notions of decadence and neglect, juxtaposed with the hope of restitution and personal renewal.
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