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The Rest on the Flight into Egypt

Gerard David Netherlandish
ca. 1512–15
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 605

This composition presents the Flight into Egypt as a continuous narrative. In a tiny background scene, the Holy Family emerges from the forest, en route to the contemporary Netherlandish town at the left. In the foreground Mary nurses her child in a moment of repose on their arduous journey, which the viewer is meant to follow visually. David achieved in this painting a remarkable balance of color and a serene sense of light and atmosphere. His awareness of Italian Renaissance conventions is evident in the pyramidal motif of the Virgin and Child and the use of chiaroscuro to convey the volume of the figures.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Rest on the Flight into Egypt
  • Artist: Gerard David (Netherlandish, Oudewater ca. 1455–1523 Bruges)
  • Date: ca. 1512–15
  • Medium: Oil on wood
  • Dimensions: 21 in. × 15 11/16 in. (53.3 × 39.8 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: The Jules Bache Collection, 1949
  • Object Number: 49.7.21
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

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Portrait of a Noblewoman, Probably Isabella of Portugal (1397–1472), Netherlandish Painter Netherlandish, Oil on wood
Portrait of a Noblewoman, Probably Isabella of Portugal (1397–1472)
Netherlandish Painter
The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, Netherlandish (Antwerp) Painters Netherlandish, Oil on wood
The Rest on the Flight into Egypt
Netherlandish (Antwerp) Painters
Studies of ten (?) heads and two ears (recto); Studies of three figures and a head (verso), Gerard David Netherlandish, Metalpoint on prepared paper; verso: black chalk
Studies of ten (?) heads and two ears (recto); Studies of three figures and a head (verso)
Gerard David
ca. 1498
Virgin and Child, Gerard David Netherlandish, Oil on oak panel, Netherlandish
Virgin and Child
Gerard David
1490–1523
The Annunciation, Gerard David Netherlandish, Tempera on parchment
The Annunciation
Gerard David
ca. 1510

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