PRODIGAL SON
GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE 13
The story is a parable from the Gospel about a young man who spent all the money given by his father and became a beggar.
In 1495, in Basel, Sebastian Brant published a poem based on this parable. It is assumed that Brant's poem inspired Albrecht Dürer to create a copperplate setting the story in modern life. The prodigal son appeared as Dürer's contemporary, making the message of the engraving sound much stronger. The artist showed a typical German village yard of the end of 15th century with pigs and a dishonorable young man who debased himself to this condition.
