\n\tA key transitional figure in eighteenth-century French art, Greuze bridged the pre- and post-Revolutionary eras with his moralizing genre scenes. In this preparatory sketch for one of his celebrated paintings, the artist presents a melodramatic reinterpretation of the final scene of the biblical parable of the prodigal son. Having gone off to war despite the pleadings of his family, the ragged and limping son returns, too late to be forgiven by his father before the latter’s death. In emphasizing the father’s death rather than the forgiveness granted to the son, Greuze reminds the viewer of the consequences of morally corrupt behavior.\n
\n\n\tComparative image: Jean-Baptiste Greuze, The Father’s Curse: The Punished Son, 1778.\n\t\n\tOil on canvas, 130 x 163 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris\n
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","citation":"\"Acquisitions of the Princeton University Art Museum 2016,\" Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 75/76 (2016-17): 126-157.
, p. 150 (illus.)","date":2016,"id":9662,"uri":"https://www.jstor.org/stable/i40228781"}],"exhibitions":[],"geography":[{"displaygeography":"Place made: Europe, France, Paris","code":"Place made","continent":"Europe","subcontinent":null,"country":"France","region":null,"state":null,"city":"Paris","county":null,"subregion":null,"locale":null,"locus":null,"river":null,"excavation":null,"geoname":"http://www.geonames.org/2968815/paris.html","location":{"lat":"","lon":""}}],"terms":[{"id":2031609,"term":"French","aatid":300111188,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2103919,"term":"dogs","aatid":null,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2055657,"term":"figures (representations)","aatid":300189808,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2135437,"term":"deaths","aatid":300151836,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2088200,"term":"sons","aatid":300154350,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2088212,"term":"fathers","aatid":300025931,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2052525,"term":"preparatory drawings","aatid":300068293,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2051964,"term":"drawings","aatid":300033973,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2168009,"term":"wash","aatid":300011051,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2143430,"term":"brushes","aatid":300024760,"termtype":"Tools"},{"id":2044331,"term":"laid paper","aatid":300014184,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2162862,"term":"graphite","aatid":300011098,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2167672,"term":"ink","aatid":300015012,"termtype":"Materials"}],"classifications":[{"id":2052525,"classification":"preparatory drawings"},{"id":2051964,"classification":"drawings"}],"cultures":[],"cultureterms":[{"id":2031609,"culture":"French"}],"periods":[],"periodterms":[],"attribute_groups":[{"id":2199327,"term":"Prints and Drawings","termtype":"Collecting Area"}],"dimensionelements":[{"element":"Overall","type":"Height","units":"centimeters","dimension":"25.80"},{"element":"Overall","type":"Width","units":"centimeters","dimension":"36.50"}],"packages":[{"packageid":224153,"name":"2023_ART209_04_19"},{"packageid":104194,"name":"web_2017_K2_March"},{"packageid":206417,"name":"image_descriptions_top250"},{"packageid":278831,"name":"10282025-DAY1-ONVIEW"},{"packageid":182970,"name":"P&D_Drawings_Watercolors"},{"packageid":196263,"name":"WEB_2021_spring"},{"packageid":207234,"name":"SAB_Gala2021"},{"packageid":225374,"name":"Gallery_02-05(Pavilion1)-European [3]"}],"primaryimage":["https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU_E_2017_51252"],"displaymaker":"Jean-Baptiste Greuze, 1725–1805; born Tournus, France; died Paris, France","displayculture":null,"displayperiod":null,"caption":"Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725–1805; born Tournus, France; died Paris, France), The Father’s Curse: The Punished Son, ca. 1777–78. Brush with gray and brown ink and wash over graphite; 25.8 × 36.5 cm. Museum purchase, Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund (2016-90)","captionhtml":"Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725–1805; born Tournus, France; died Paris, France), The Father’s Curse: The Punished Son, ca. 1777–78. Brush with gray and brown ink and wash over graphite; 25.8 × 36.5 cm. Museum purchase, Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund (2016-90)","published_date":"2026-02-11 14:24:39.583508","campusart":[{"campuscollections":"false","campusart":0,"neighborhood":null,"lat":null,"lon":null}],"extended_content":false}