This work portrays the well-known New Testament parable (Luke, 15: 11-32) illustrating the repentance of the sinner and the virtues of forgiveness. The pretext for the setting is the banquet given by the father to celebrate the return of the son, in which, according to the gospel, a fatted calf was served. The painter chose to recreate the festive nature of the event, ignoring the angry protests o
This work is a variation on the painting executed by Jacopo towards 1580 for the main altar of the church of the Capuchins in Bassano del Grappa (Museo Civico, inv. 18), a large work (237 x 155 cm) with over fifty figures that constitutes una sorta di compendio di tutte le positure fatte da Jacopo Bassano per le sue opere (Marini: 1992, p. 298), and which was inspired by Titian´s La Gloria (P432),