1649 Saftleven brothers - Le Porcher (Swineherd at sunrise)
Holl. XXIII, p 136
Herman Saftleven (the Younger) Saftleven (1609-1685)
Cornelis Saftleven (1607-1681)
210 x 265 mm
3rd state.
Hollstein attributes this to Herman only, and says this is a copy, the original being 236 x 267mm, and doesn't mention any collaboration between the two brothers
This is almost certainly a reference to the Biblical Parable of the Prodigal Son.
A farmer gives his two sons their inheritance early. The elder son keeps it and works the fields as before. The younger son goes on a spree and, having spent every last groat, is reduced to working as a swineherd. When he's at the point of envying the pigs--who are probably worth more to his employer than he is and are thus better fed--he decides to go home in shame and humbly ask his father to take him back as a servant.
The father, however, is overjoyed to see his son return home and throws a big party for him. The elder son, who stayed home, is unhappy about this, but the father explains that, while he is happy that his elder son stayed by his side, he is happier still that the lost son had returned. The elder son doesn't get it and remains pissed.
God and His angels being happiest to see a sinner return to the fold, etc. etc.
The swineherd in the etching is the prodigal son, is still walking away from the glory that he can't see awaits him. Also, the road he's on leads away from the lush landscape and toward a barren tree with rocks. Finally--and a friend from Rotterdam alerted me to this--the two figures in the middle ground are itinerant pedlars ("marskramers"). Before the Dutch Revolt (1578), pedlars also carried Protestant leaflets into the Catholic Netherlands, spreading the Reformation. During and after, some carried Catholic pamphlets into the Protestant Netherlands. Marskramer is the name of a Rotterdam chain of shops selling household goods, the equivalent of Amsterdam's Blokker.
Albrecht Dürer and Hans Sebald Beham also showed the Prodigal Son hitting bottom as a swineherd.
1649 Saftleven brothers - Le Porcher (Swineherd at sunrise)
Holl. XXIII, p 136
Herman Saftleven (the Younger) Saftleven (1609-1685)
Cornelis Saftleven (1607-1681)
210 x 265 mm
3rd state.
Hollstein attributes this to Herman only, and says this is a copy, the original being 236 x 267mm, and doesn't mention any collaboration between the two brothers
This is almost certainly a reference to the Biblical Parable of the Prodigal Son.
A farmer gives his two sons their inheritance early. The elder son keeps it and works the fields as before. The younger son goes on a spree and, having spent every last groat, is reduced to working as a swineherd. When he's at the point of envying the pigs--who are probably worth more to his employer than he is and are thus better fed--he decides to go home in shame and humbly ask his father to take him back as a servant.
The father, however, is overjoyed to see his son return home and throws a big party for him. The elder son, who stayed home, is unhappy about this, but the father explains that, while he is happy that his elder son stayed by his side, he is happier still that the lost son had returned. The elder son doesn't get it and remains pissed.
God and His angels being happiest to see a sinner return to the fold, etc. etc.
The swineherd in the etching is the prodigal son, is still walking away from the glory that he can't see awaits him. Also, the road he's on leads away from the lush landscape and toward a barren tree with rocks. Finally--and a friend from Rotterdam alerted me to this--the two figures in the middle ground are itinerant pedlars ("marskramers"). Before the Dutch Revolt (1578), pedlars also carried Protestant leaflets into the Catholic Netherlands, spreading the Reformation. During and after, some carried Catholic pamphlets into the Protestant Netherlands. Marskramer is the name of a Rotterdam chain of shops selling household goods, the equivalent of Amsterdam's Blokker.
Albrecht Dürer and Hans Sebald Beham also showed the Prodigal Son hitting bottom as a swineherd.