Creative Commons License
Rest on the Flight into Egypt
(Renaissance Europe )
Simple images of the Virgin and Child were often found in private homes as an inspiration to prayer and meditation. The Gospels tell us little of the Holy Family's flight into Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod, though later legends describe the family stopping to rest and take nourishment. While the Virgin sits humbly on the ground and nurses her child, she is regally dressed, and angels hold a crown above her head in anticipation of her future role as Queen of Heaven. The columbines flowering in the foreground, an inn in the middle distance, and the wilderness through which the family has fled, depicted by overlapping hills receding to snowy peaks, reflect the new interest in the natural world among Antwerp painters at this time.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Henry Walters, Baltimore, before 1909, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 1980 | Undercover Stories in Art. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
| 1980 | Salute to Belgium. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| Examination | chemical analysis; examined for technical study | |
| Treatment | coated; inpainted; lined; surface cleaned | |
| 4/29/1941 | Treatment | cleaned; coated; examined for condition; filled; inpainted; reconstructed; varnish removed or reduced |
| 2/4/1977 | Treatment | loss compensation |
Geographies
Belgium, Antwerp (Place of Origin)
Measurements
15 3/4 x 11 1/4 in. (40 x 28.5 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters, before 1909
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.389