LAEMEN, Christoffel Jacobsz van der
(b. ca. 1606, Antwerpen, d. 1651, Antwerpen)

The Prodigal Son

c. 1640
Oil on panel, 57 x 74 cm
Private collection

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.




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