When Bartolomé Estebán Murillo painted The Prodigal Son Driven Out around 1660, he was embarking on a rare and ambitious series: six large canvases dedicated to the parable of the Prodigal Son, a cycle that would become one of the artist’s most celebrated narrative achievements. These works were commissioned for the Hermandad de la Caridad in Seville, a brotherhood devoted to charity, which counted Murillo himself among its members. The series was intended to inspire acts of mercy and repentance, echoing the brotherhood’s mission of aiding the destitute and penitent.

Remarkably, only four of the original six paintings survive today, scattered across museums in Europe and America—a testament to their turbulent journeys. Here, Murillo captures the fateful moment when the prodigal son, after squandering his inheritance, is cast out from a brothel by a pair of stern figures. The young man, barefoot and disheveled, is thrust into the street, his worldly goods reduced to a threadbare bundle. Around him, the revelers and courtesans turn away in indifference or scorn; a barking dog and toppled jug underscore his sudden fall from grace.

Murillo’s soft, golden light lingers on the son’s anguished face, inviting the viewer’s sympathy, while the shadowed background hints at the moral darkness of his choices. Unlike the stark drama of Rembrandt’s interpretation of the same parable, Murillo’s version is suffused with a gentle humanity, emphasizing the possibility of redemption even at the lowest ebb. The painting’s journey mirrors the restless fate of its subject. Originally installed in the refectory of the Hermandad de la Caridad, The Prodigal Son Driven Out was seized by Napoleon’s troops during the Peninsular War and taken to France, where it remained until its restitution to Spain in the early 19th century.

Today, it hangs in the Museo del Prado, a key work in Murillo’s mature period and a touchstone of Sevillian Baroque painting. Its survival, alongside its companion pieces, offers a rare glimpse into the artist’s narrative ambition and his deep engagement with themes of sin, forgiveness, and social compassion.