After Jean-Baptiste Greuze

In 1765, Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725–1805) exhibited two drawings at the Salon in a diptych format, with the title The Father’s Curse: the Ungrateful Son and The Son Punished (Lille, Musée des Beaux-Arts, inv. Pl 1430 and Pl 1431). The subject was taken from the parable of the Prodigal Son in the Bible, exploring the idea of the father’s pardon. He has transformed a religious subject into a genre scene, while giving his figures the features, gestures and poses associated with history painting. Praised by his contemporaries, Diderot in particular noted that ‘This is beautiful, very beautiful, sublime; everything, everything […] [these are] the masterpieces of the exhibition: no tormented or obscure poses; genuine actions that are appropriate to painting’). (Diderot, Salons, T.1, Paris, J.L.J. Brière, Libraire, [1821] 1765, p. 266-267; our translation).

In 1778, he went back to his drawings to create paintings of the same theme (Paris, Musée du Louvre, inv. 5038 and 5039). He only changed a few details, to make the works less anecdotal.

The present work is a copy of the second painting in the diptych, The Son Punished, in which the injured son returns to discover his dead father being mourned by his family. Although the setting is a humble interior, cramped and functional, the figures in the painting play dramatic parts, accentuated by their gestures and gazes. Reminiscent of a classical history painting, this scene establishes a link between the academic style and contemporary themes, describing a drama of daily life.