<P> Of the thirty or so parables in the canonical Gospels, this was one of the four that were shown in medieval art almost to the exclusion of the others, but not mixed in with the narrative scenes of the Life of Christ (the others were the Wise and Foolish Virgins, Dives and Lazarus, and the Good Samaritan . The Labourers in the Vineyard also appears in Early Medieval works). </P> <P> From the Renaissance the numbers shown widened slightly, and the various scenes--the high living, herding the pigs, and the return--of the Prodigal Son became the clear favourite . Albrecht Dürer made a famous engraving of the Prodigal Son amongst the pigs (1496), a popular subject in the Northern Renaissance . Rembrandt depicted several scenes from the parable, especially the final episode, which he etched, drew, or painted on several occasions during his career . At least one of his works, The Prodigal Son in the Tavern, a portrait of himself as the Son, revelling with his wife, is like many artists' depictions, a way of dignifying a genre tavern scene--if the title was indeed the original intention of the artist . His late Return of the Prodigal Son (1662--1669, Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg) is one of his most popular works . </P> <P> In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the theme was a sufficiently popular subject that the Prodigal Son Play can be seen as a subgenre of the English morality play . Examples include The Rare Triumphs of Love and Fortune, The Disobedient Child, and Acolastus . </P> <P> Notable adaptations for performance include an 1869 oratorio by Arthur Sullivan, an 1884 cantata by Claude Debussy, a 1929 ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to music written by Sergei Prokofiev, a 1957 ballet by Hugo Alfvén, and an opera, The Prodigal Son by Benjamin Britten (1968). </P>

Symbolism in the parable of the prodigal son