(Antwerp 1609–1690)
The Prodigal Son,
oil on canvas, 129.5 x 97.2 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, USA

We are grateful to Hans Vlieghe and Paul Huys Janssen for independently confirming the attribution of the present painting to Peter van Lint on the basis of a high resolution digital photograph. We are also grateful to Paul Huys Janssen for his help in cataloguing this lot. A written certificate is available.

Huys Janssen writes: ‘The Prodigal Son is a characteristic painting by Peter van Lint. It should be dated to the 1640s and shows the artist’s classical style. The artist was born in Antwerp, where he studied with the little-known Roelant Jacobs and later on with Artus Wolfforts. After 1633 he went to Italy, where he made several religious paintings for churches in Rome. He was in the service of the Cibo family and Cardinal Ginnasio. For the Cibo family chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo, he painted frescoes depicting the legend of the Holy Cross. They were painted in a classicist style emphasising clear outlines and bright colours. At that time in Rome, the art of Guido Reni and the classicist school of Bologna were predominant. There was a strong influence from classic sculpture, the result of the many discoveries made during the Italian Renaissance. It is known that Peter van Lint made drawings after statues dating from the ancient Roman period. In 1640/41 the artist was in Paris, where he was inspired by Nicolas Poussin, another influential classicist painter. After that he returned to Antwerp. Van Lint stayed in his native town for the rest of his life. The painting of the Prodigal Son was made shortly after Peter van Lint returned from Italy and France.’