Circle of HANS VREDEMAN DE VRIES (Leeuwarden, 1525/1526-Hamburg, 1609). "The Return of the Prodigal Son". Oil on copper. It has a 20th century frame. Size: 69 x 85,5 cm; 96 x 112 cm (frame). The treatment of the architecture in this work suggests that its composition is close to the artistic circle of Hans Vredeman de Vries, who achieved a great fame due to this type of scenes in which he developed a great architectural complex, in which scenes that remain in the background, with respect to the magnificence of the landscape, were included. In this particular case it is the representation of the parable of the prodigal son. The Parable tells " A man had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father, "Father, give me the share of the inheritance that is mine." And he divided the inheritance between them. A few days later the younger son gathered it all together and went away to a far country where he squandered his inheritance living like a libertine. "When he had spent it all, there came an extreme famine in that country, and he began to be in need. "While he was still far away, his father saw him and, moved, ran to him, threw himself on his neck and kissed him warmly. The son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son." But the father said to his servants, "Bring quickly the best robe and dress him, put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened bullock, kill it, and let us eat and feast, for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. In this case we can see the embrace between father and son in the centre of the scene, but as is usual in the Flemish school, different scenes can be seen in the same image, such as the servant preparing the table, or the people strolling through the gardens. Born in Leeuwarden and raised in Friesland, in 1546 Vredeman de Vries went to Amsterdam and Kampen. In 1549 he moved to Mechelen where the High Court was located. Sebastian, his brother, was the organist of the local church. Vredeman de Vries designed ornaments for the joyous parades of Charles V and Philip II. Studying Vitruvius and Sebastiano Serlio, he became an internationally renowned specialist in perspective. He continued his career in Antwerp, where he was appointed municipal architect and engineer of fortifications. After 1585 he fled the city because of the Spanish occupation by Alessandro Farnese. As a Protestant, he had to leave the city within two years. Vredeman de Vries moved to Frankfurt and worked in Wolfenbüttel, designing a fortification and a new town layout for Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. After his death, the project was cancelled and Hans worked in Hamburg, Danzig (1592), Prague (1596) and Amsterdam (1600). On his travels Vredeman was accompanied by his son Paul and Hendrick Aerts, both painters. Vredeman de Vries attempted to obtain an appointment at the University of Leiden in 1604.