The Rest on the Flight into Egypt
Against a deep, hilly landscape, a young woman sits facing us on a rocky ledge with a small child in her lap in this square painting. The woman and child, Mary and Jesus, both have pale skin and blond hair. Mary wears a cobalt-blue gown over a coral-pink undergarment that peeks out from under the bottom hem and at her cuffs. A paler blue mantle is draped over the back of her head and falls to cover her shoulders and body. A sheer white veil covers her hair and forehead. Jesus wears a sheer white, loose, long-sleeved tunic. Both gaze downward to the bunch of green grapes Mary holds delicately in her left hand, to our right. Jesus reaches forward with both hands to pluck some fruit as Mary supports his body with her other hand. An oval shaped, woven basket with a lid sits on the ground next to Mary’s feet. The gray, rocky outcropping on which they sit is blanketed with straw-colored moss or other growth. A small clearing behind the pair is framed by trees on either side. The trees have tall, slender trunks speckled with light gray patches and canopies of olive and celery-green leaves. To our left and beyond the outcropping, a gray donkey stands behind a tree, nibbling on some grasses at the edge of the outcropping. To our right, in the middle distance, a pale-skinned, bearded man stands and arches back with a long stick raised overhead, as if about to strike the tree in front of him. Beyond him and about two-thirds of the way up the panel, a row of dark green shrubbery separates the clearing from rolling blue hills in the distance.
Details
- Palette
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Select a color to find related artworks.
- Medium
- oil on panel
- Dimensions
- painted surface: 41.9 x 42.2 cm (16 1/2 x 16 5/8 in.) overall (panel): 44.3 x 44.9 cm (17 7/16 x 17 11/16 in.) framed: 69.2 x 54.6 cm (27 1/4 x 21 1/2 in.)
- Department
- CNE-R
- Holding institution
- National Gallery of Art
- Image provider
- national-gallery-of-art
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- Andrew W. Mellon Collection
Art Genome Taxonomy
11 tags
Subject Matter
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Madonna and Child Both · 99%
The National Gallery of Art identifies the subject as The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, and the image visibly shows Mary holding the infant Jesus in her lap.
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Landscapes Both · 99%
The work is described and visibly composed as an outdoor landscape with trees, rocky ground, distant hills, fields, and buildings.
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Figures in Nature Visual · 96%
The central figures are situated directly within a natural setting of trees, foliage, exposed rock, and open countryside.
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Animals Visual · 99%
A donkey is clearly visible behind the tree at the left edge of the composition.
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Flora Visual · 98%
Trees, grasses, moss-like ground cover, and numerous small plants are prominently rendered throughout the scene.
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Food Visual · 98%
A bunch of green grapes is clearly visible between Mary and Jesus and is the focus of their lowered gazes and hand gestures.
Visual Qualities
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Highly Detailed Visual · 97%
The painting contains carefully differentiated textures and fine details in the fabrics, figures, foliage, rocks, basket, distant buildings, and landscape.
Medium and Techniques
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Oil on Panel Metadata · 100%
The National Gallery of Art lists the medium as oil on panel.
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Painting Metadata · 100%
The catalog classification identifies the work as a painting.
Time Periods
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16th Century Art Metadata · 98%
The catalog dates the work to circa 1510, placing it in the sixteenth century.
Cultural and Religious Styles
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Christian Art and Architecture Both · 99%
The catalog identifies the central figures as Mary and Jesus, and the image presents them in a Christian sacred narrative.
Source & rights
Gerard David. The Rest on the Flight into Egypt. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.