Artwork Page for Rest on the Flight to Egypt

Details / Information for Rest on the Flight to Egypt

Rest on the Flight to Egypt

c. 1879

Luc-Olivier Merson

(French, 1846–1920)
Culture
France, 19th- 20th century
Medium
charcoal
Measurements
Sheet: 36.9 x 51.5 cm (14 1/2 x 20 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of William Kelly Simpson 2018.74
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
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Did You Know?

Despite the detail of his depictions on the subject, Luc-Olivier Merson never traveled to North Africa.

Description

This charcoal sketch relates to an oil painting that was tremendously popular at the 1879 Paris Salon. In both works, Luc-Olivier Merson depicted the Holy Family finding refuge in a massive sphinx sculpture during the rest on the flight into Egypt. The drawing may have been an independent work or, more likely, a study for the painting or a related print.
A horizontally oriented charcoal drawing depicts a colossal stone Sphinx looking upward. Between its paws, the Virgin Mary, a woman with a light skin tone draped in dark robes, cradles a glowing infant Christ child. Below, Joseph, a man with a light skin tone, sleeps on the sand near a thin plume of smoke. To the right, a donkey grazes in a dark desert landscape under a vast, hazy sky.

Rest on the Flight to Egypt

c. 1879

Luc-Olivier Merson

(French, 1846–1920)
France, 19th- 20th century

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