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The Flight into Egypt

1470s
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 611

An artist of incomparable fantasy and expressive power, Tura was court painter to the dukes of Ferrara. This scene depicts a weary Holy Family fleeing to Egypt after receiving a warning that King Herod was seeking to kill the infant Jesus. This roundel belongs to a series of three showing the early life of Christ. The series may come from the base (predella) of an altarpiece, possibly Tura’s impressive Roverella Altarpiece, the central panel of which is in the National Gallery, London. The nervous, calligraphic line and mystical-seeming landscape are typical of the artist.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Flight into Egypt
  • Artist: Cosmè Tura (Cosimo di Domenico di Bonaventura) (Italian, Ferrara ca. 1433–1495 Ferrara)
  • Date: 1470s
  • Medium: Tempera on wood
  • Dimensions: Overall, with corners made up, 15 5/8 x 15 1/8 in. (39.7 x 38.4 cm); painted surface, diameter 15 1/4 in. (38.7 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: The Jules Bache Collection, 1949
  • Object Number: 49.7.17
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
Saint Louis of Toulouse, Cosmè Tura (Cosimo di Domenico di Bonaventura) Italian, Tempera on canvas, stretched over wood, transferred from wood, gold ground
Saint Louis of Toulouse
Cosmè Tura (Cosimo di Domenico di Bonaventura)
1484?
Lobster-Tail Burgonet, Steel, leather, gold, North Italian
Lobster-Tail Burgonet
North Italian
ca. 1610
The Adoration of the Shepherds, Andrea Mantegna Italian, Tempera on canvas, transferred from wood
The Adoration of the Shepherds
Andrea Mantegna
shortly after 1450
Madonna and Child with the Donor, Pietro de' Lardi, Presented by Saint Nicholas, Master G.Z. (possibly Michele dai Carri, Italian, Ferrara, active by 1405–died 1441 Ferrara) Italian, Tempera and gold on wood
Madonna and Child with the Donor, Pietro de' Lardi, Presented by Saint Nicholas
Master G.Z. (possibly Michele dai Carri, Italian, Ferrara, active by 1405–died 1441 Ferrara)
ca. 1420–30
Portrait of a Young Man, Cosmè Tura (Cosimo di Domenico di Bonaventura) Italian, Tempera on wood
Portrait of a Young Man
Cosmè Tura (Cosimo di Domenico di Bonaventura)
1470s

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