Return of the Prodigal Son

between 1616 and 1620

Bartholomeus van Bassen Dutch, ca. 1590-1652

On View

Dutch Golden Age, Level 3, South Wing

Image Only Image + Details All Images High Resolution TIFF Metadata

About the Artwork

Please note: This section is empty
Markings

Please note: This section is empty

This section contains information about signatures, inscriptions and/or markings an object may have.
Provenance

Please note: This section is empty

Provenance is a record of an object's ownership. We are continually researching and updating this information to show a more accurate record and to ensure that this object was ethically and legally obtained.

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:
Provenance page
Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Suggest Feedback
Published References

Please note: This section is empty

We regularly update our object record as new research and findings emerge, and we welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Suggest Feedback
Catalogue Raisonné

Please note: This section is empty

A catalogue raisonné is an annotated listing of artworks created by an artist across different media.
Credit Line for Reproduction

Please note: This section is empty

The credit line includes information about the object, such as the artist, title, date, and medium. Also listed is its ownership, the manner in which it was acquired, and its accession number. This information must be cited alongside the object whenever it is shown or reproduced.
Audio Transcript

Please note: This section is empty

About the Artwork

Title Return of the Prodigal Son

Artwork Date between 1616 and 1620

Artist Bartholomeus van Bassen

Life Dates ca. 1590-1652

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. Dutch

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Oil on oak panel

Dimensions Unframed: 24 1/4 × 38 7/8 inches (61.6 × 98.7 cm) Framed: 31 3/8 × 46 1/4 × 2 5/8 inches (79.7 × 117.5 × 6.7 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department European Painting

Credit Gift of Julius Weitzner

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 37.59

Markings

Signed Signed, lower left on base of column: B. Van Bassen

Provenance

1937, (Julius Weitzner, London, England);
1937-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback

Published References

Goldschmidt, A. "The Style of Dutch Painting in the 17th Century." Art Quarterly 2, no. 14 (1939): pp. 3-18 (fig. 7).

Richardson, E.P., ed. Detroit Institute of Arts Catalogue of Paintings. Detroit, 1944, pp. 9-10, no. 425.

Haeger, B.J. "The Prodigal Son in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Netherlandish Art: Depictions of the Parable and the evolution of a Catholic Image." Simiolus 16 (1986): pp. 128-138 (fig. 10).

Briels, J. Vlaamse Schilders in de Noordelijke Nederlanden in het begin van de Gouden Eeuw 1585-1630. Haarlem and Antwerp, 1987, p. 291, 293, pl. 264.

Keyes, George S. et al. Masters of Dutch Painting: The Detroit Institute of Arts. London, 2004, pp. 20–21, no. 4 (ill.).

Rüger, A. and R. Billinge. "The Design Practice of the Dutch Architectural Painter Bartholomeus van Bassen." National Gallery Technical Bulletin 26 (2005): pp. 24, 32-37, (ill.) p. 24, pl. 2 (color), p. 33 (fig. 11), p. 34 (figs. 15-16), p. 36 (fig. 20).

Kindly share your feedback or any additional information, as this record is still a work in progress and may need further refinement.

Suggest Feedback

Catalogue Raisoneé

Please note: This section is empty

Credit Line for Reproduction

Bartholomeus van Bassen, Return of the Prodigal Son, between 1616 and 1620, oil on oak panel. Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of Julius Weitzner, 37.59.