Artwork Page for The Flight into Egypt

Details / Information for The Flight into Egypt

Series Title: The Life of the Virgin

The Flight into Egypt

c. 1503–5

Albrecht Dürer

(German, 1471–1528)
View all records in artwork set
Culture
Germany, early 16th Century
Medium
woodcut
Credit Line
Dudley P. Allen Fund 1959.99.14
Catalogue raisonné
Meder 201 c
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

The dense forest setting of the Flight into Egypt includes tropical trees and lizards.

Description

Although Dürer’s woodcut depicts a later event in the biblical narrative, the composition is similar to the scene from the Mirror of Holiness, "Mary and Joseph Travel to Bethlehem" CMA 2005.145.24.b—even to the inclusion of an ox. Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus fled Jerusalem for Egypt after Joseph was warned in a dream that Jesus’s life was in danger. The dense, dark forest through which the Holy Family travels seems to close threateningly around them. While the Indian artist envisioned a “pack beast” as a camel, Dürer invented a Middle Eastern landscape by incorporating a palm tree and other curious vegetation.

The Flight into Egypt

c. 1503–5

Albrecht Dürer

(German, 1471–1528)
Germany, early 16th Century

See Also

Visually Similar by AI

    Contact Us

    The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@clevelandart.org.

    To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.

    All images and data available through Open Access can be downloaded for free. For images not available through Open Access, or any image with a color bar, request a digital file from Image Services.