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Descriptif du lot
This exquisite composition is one of Dürer's finest early engravings. On a relatively large format, the scene depicts one of the most moving moments of the parable of the Prodigal Son. The young man, having left his family and squandered his inheritance, is destitute and needs to work as a swineherd to survive. Kneeling down in the dirt amongst the pigs, with clasped hands and remorseful face, he looks up to heaven and asks for forgiveness.
There is a pen and ink model for the print in the collection of the British Museum (inv. no. SL,5218.173), which is Dürer's earliest surviving preparatory drawing for a print before 1500.
Dürer's technical mastery is especially evident in the variety of textures, ranging from the bristles of the pigs to the mound of hay, the dilapidated facades and the thatched roofs. The subject and composition was especially admired in Italy in the 16th century and the roofs in particular attracted the praise of Giorgio Vasari. The young artist's ability to create the illusion of a three-dimensional space and imitate a vast range of surfaces is however not yet matched by his grasp of anatomy, as can be seen in the strangely twisted kneeling pose of the Prodigal Son.
Fine, early examples of this print, such as the present one, rarely appear on the market and are testament to the artist's outstanding talent as an engraver and inventor of images.
There is a pen and ink model for the print in the collection of the British Museum (inv. no. SL,5218.173), which is Dürer's earliest surviving preparatory drawing for a print before 1500.
Dürer's technical mastery is especially evident in the variety of textures, ranging from the bristles of the pigs to the mound of hay, the dilapidated facades and the thatched roofs. The subject and composition was especially admired in Italy in the 16th century and the roofs in particular attracted the praise of Giorgio Vasari. The young artist's ability to create the illusion of a three-dimensional space and imitate a vast range of surfaces is however not yet matched by his grasp of anatomy, as can be seen in the strangely twisted kneeling pose of the Prodigal Son.
Fine, early examples of this print, such as the present one, rarely appear on the market and are testament to the artist's outstanding talent as an engraver and inventor of images.