Scenes from the Life of the Prodigal Son Gm-00030301

Master of Saint Christopher (Flemish, active first half of 16th century) Pieter Coecke van Aelst combined various scenes into a continuous narrative that proceeds left to right like a cartoon strip. The prodigal son takes leave of his father, lavishes his money on worldly pleasures at a brothel, gets chased away by prostitutes, lands in a pigsty, and finally reconciles with his father. In the 1500s, this popular parable taught about the sin of extravagance and the virtue of forgiveness. In contrast to the text of the Bible, which emphasizes the father's final act of forgiveness, artists and patrons of that period often focused lively attention on the brothel scene. Coecke set it further forward than the rest of the action, with the detailed landscape and architectural passages of the other episodes forming an elaborate backdrop. Emphasizing attractive outlines, he filled the entire drawing with elegantly proportioned figures. Scholars believe that the drawing's large scale and horizontal format suggest that Coecke might have made it as a tapestry design.

We make each of our prints one at a time—just for you.

Our Giclée Prints are printed here in Switzerland, one at a time, on heavy matte German art paper using the finest 12-color Canon archival inks. Some images are panoramic or tall and narrow—please select the 18" x 36" format for these.

Our Premium Museum Frame in Black is custom-made in Lugano, Switzerland, using natural wood moulding in a matte black satin finish. Each includes thick, hand-cut white mat boards and Plexiglass glazing. We tailor and print each image to fit its specific ratio and dimensions within our custom-made frames. The hand-cut mats are extra thick. Each bespoke museum frame ships in a custom box. Rush shipping is available for projects with tight deadlines—this is our specialty, and you will not be disappointed.

Our Antiqued Museum Frame in Gold is a high-quality frame made of solid wood, featuring traditional 19th-century cast plaster moulded details and closed corners. These frames are works of art in themselves, each with a unique patina. The hand-rubbed corners and gold finish evoke the elegance of times past. Your selected image is printed on German art paper with archival inks and mounted to quality art board within the frame. Plexiglass is added for print protection and the back is covered with Kraft paper and a hanger is supplied ready to hang..

Our Stretched Canvas prints are hand-stretched over 1.25" thick pine bars and printed with archival inks on a cotton-poly matte finish canvas. These are best-in-industry Swiss-quality canvases, hand-coated for UV protection.

Wall Murals are printed on a matte-finish, self-adhesive poly/fabric material that mounts easily and is ideal for smooth wall surfaces.

Our Note Cards are amazing—each is printed individually on 100% cotton art paper, comes with a kraft envelope, and is individually sleeved. (Image is scaled to fit the format.)

All of our images are digitized from the original negative or print and printed by our master printer to museum standards.

Questions? Please email service@archivea.com or call/text +41 79 265 8891.

Artwork in this collection is from The J. Paul Getty Museum. Reproduction rights are reserved by the copyright owner and used under license by Archivea GmbH.