Master of the Prodigal Son


The Master of the Prodigal Son, was the notname given to a Flemish painter and designer of tapestries and stained glass. He was active in Antwerp where he operated a large workshop between 1530 and 1560. He painted religious subjects, landscapes, genre scenes and allegories. He is regarded as a leading master of Flemish Mannerism in the sixteenth century.

Life

Little is known about this artist who was given his notname in 1909 by Belgian art historian Georges Hulin de Loo after one of his best-known works depicting :File:Meister des Verlorenen Sohnes - Das Gleichnis vom Verlorenen Sohn.jpg|''The return of the prodigal son. A monogram of "LK" was discovered on one of his paintings. Some doubt has been raised as to whether the monogram is genuine and no other evidence exists to conclude that the artist should be identified with the Leonart Kroes mentioned as the teacher of Gillis van Coninxloo in the Flemish 16th century art historian Karel van Mander's Schilder-boeck of 1604. Stylistic characteristics of his work suggest he may have spent time in Italy but there is no independent evidence for foreign trip.
Based on the size of his output it is believed he operated a large workshop with several pupils in Antwerp.

Work

He is known for landscapes, religious works and genre scenes as well as a few allegorical compositions. His only dated painting is a canvas of the Return of Tobit formerly in Berlin. In his religious composition landscapes often play an important role and also include still life elements. His :File:Master of the Prodigal Son - Lot and his daughters.jpg|Lot and his daughters includes a small see-through landscape with the city of Sodom burning and a still life of fruit on a plate, which are the precursors of the genres of landscape and still-life painting that arose during the 16th century.
His work shows the influence of leading painters working in Antwerp in the mid-16th century, such as Pieter Coecke van Aelst, Pieter Aertsen, Jan Mandijn and Frans Floris. The sharply accented realism of some figures in his work is closely related to Pieter Aertsen. A certain Mannerism in his work approaches his work to that of Jan Mandijn and Frans Floris as well as the School of Fontainebleau. This aspect is most obvious in his compositions with large figures such as the :File:Master of the Prodigal Son - Lot and His Daughters.jpeg|Lot and His Daughters (Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp