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DÜRER, Albrecht: The Prodigal Son

🖼 The Prodigal Son, c. 1496
Engraving
261 × 202 cm
Karlsruhe, Germany

Chaos erupts in a pigpen as a ragged youth collapses amid swine and filth, rendered with unflinching detail and dramatic chiaroscuro. Dürer's engraving captures the prodigal's moral degradation with unprecedented psychological intensity, establishing the emotional depth that defines Northern Renaissance printmaking.

The story of art
The story of art
E. H. Gombrich
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