The Prodigal Son (1889), a motif taken from the Luke Gospel of the New Testament, one of Jesus likenesses, conveys the desperation and regret of a young man who has left his family for a dissolute life and now seeks forgiveness. Bowstring taut, leaning dramatically back, his body rises up out of the rock. Rodin, who was meticulous in his work with the naked body, has chosen an idiom that becomes almost immaterial: it is psychology rather than anatomy that is in focus here. The play of the muscles is rhythmic and vibrant, and it is that inwardness of feeling that Rodin wanted to convey. The Prodigal Son has also been exhibited under other names, and adaptations of the work can be found in The Gates of Hell (1880–1917) and in several other sculptural groups of his.
Philippa Nanfeldt from The Collection Gothenburg Museum of Art, Gothenburg 2014
