The Prodigal Son, a 1618 painting by Rubens of the son as a swineherd. Engraving of the Prodigal Son as a swineherd by Hans Sebald Beham, 1538. The opening, “A man had two sons” is a storyteller’s trope and would immediately bring to mind Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac, and Esau and Jacob.

