This enormous, dramatic painting by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo focuses on the emotional homecoming in the Biblical story of “The Prodigal Son” in which youth and money make a bad combination.
Murillo painted this as one of eight paintings for a charitable hospital in Seville and we’ll find how the king of Spain’s top official tried to “borrow” it to place in a royal museum. We’ll also discover its connection to Napoleon Bonaparte and a guy nicknamed “Joey Bottles.”
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SHOW NOTES
“A Long Look” theme is “Ascension” by Ron Gelinas
Episode theme is “Adagio in G minor” composed by Tomaso Albinoni/Remo Giazotto and performed by Noh Donghwan. Courtesy of musopen.org
The Prodigal Son information
https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.34956.html
“Joey Bottles” article
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/nyregion/new-jersey/26bonapartenj.html
Slow Art Day http://www.slowartday.com
Recommended Reading
Spanish Paintings of the Fifteenth through Nineteenth Centuries (PDF)