The Return of the Prodigal Son

In 1818 Prince Camillo Borghese was buying pictures again. His family's collection had been partly dispersed during the French occupation of Rome, and through an agent he acquired five paintings from Prince Orazio Lancellotti, this canvas among them. It had been in the Lancellotti palace since at least 1770, when an engraver copied it there. The story is from Luke's Gospel. A younger son who has squandered his inheritance comes home, and his father takes him back. Guercino painted the subject many times, for two cardinals in 1618 and 1619 and for other patrons into the 1650s. This version, from around 1627 or 1628, is one of the calmest. The father grips the young man's bare shoulder as he changes out of his rags, a servant arrives with clean clothes, and a dog jumps up to greet him.