The Flight Into Egypt
| Support Type: | Wood Panel |
| Paint Type: | Oil Paint |
| Current Location: | National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (Accession no. 1937.1.28) |
| Location History: | Painted c. 1515 (though its precise dating and attribution were debated for decades as the work was at times catalogued as by Giovanni Bellini, or as by "a good Bellini follower, probably Giovanni Mansueti," before later scholarship confirmed it as Carpaccio's own).Then it was owned by Edward Solly (1776–1844) in Berlin; purchased in 1821 by the Königliche Museen, Berlin (installed in the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum in 1904). Later it was sold in 1924 to Charles Albert de Burlet, Berlin. Then it was passed to Professor Luigi Grassi (1858–1937), Florence and Rome. Then it was sold through the dealer Arthur J. Sulley & Co., London. Acquired in 1927 by Otto H. Kahn (1867–1934), New York. Later it was again put up for sale and was sold through Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York. Later it was purchased on 26 April 1937 by The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh. And finally it was Gifted in 1937 to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., as part of the Andrew W. Mellon Collection, where it remains today (Accession no. 1937.1.28). |
The Flight into Egypt is a painting by Vittore Carpaccio , an Italian painter who is a popular renaissance painter. In his active years he has painted many such biblical paintings that depicts stories from the bible. Similarly this painting, is a depiction of an episode of the biblical story of Joseph and Mary who are seen travelling and carrying their newborn baby Jesus . This act can be seen as them fleeing from Bethlehem to Egypt to escape King Herod, who wanted to kill baby Jesus. However, the artist is able to portray a rather different image which instead of showing the panic or urgency of their escape, Carpaccio chooses to show the Family calmly in the middle of their journey. Mary is seen sitting on top of the donkey and wearing richly patterned clothing while holding the baby Jesus in her arms with an expression that looks calm but also carries a quiet sadness. Along with her there is Joseph who walks alongside the donkey with a staff on his hand looking and walking ahead .What really makes this painting stand out is the landscape behind them. Carpaccio, like other Venetian artists working around the same time, such as Giovanni Bellini, used this subject of the Flight into Egypt as a chance to experiment with an idealised, dreamlike kind of landscape. In the foreground, there is thick, detailed greenery, and behind that, the land opens up into rolling hills, sharp distant peaks, elegant trees, and water so still it looks like a millpond. But this landscape is not just there to look nice or to show off Carpaccio's skill but many scholars point out that it is filled with symbolic meaning that goes much deeper than just the surface details, adding another layer of significance to the whole scene beyond what is immediately visible.