The Prodigal Son
by LAEMEN, Christoffel Jacobsz van der, Oil on panel, 57 x 74 cm
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’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.