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The Flight into Egypt
Joachim Patinir·c. 1550/1575
Historical Context
This Flight into Egypt by a follower of Joachim Patinir, dating to around 1550-1575, depicts the Holy Family's escape to Egypt set within an expansive panoramic landscape. Patinir, active in Antwerp in the early sixteenth century, is considered the inventor of the "world landscape" — vast, sweeping views where the landscape dominates and the biblical figures become small staffage. His innovative format was widely imitated for decades after his death in 1524.
Technical Analysis
The oil on panel shows the characteristic Patinirian formula: a panoramic landscape with a high viewpoint, blue-green mountains receding into atmospheric distance, and small religious figures in the foreground. The tripartite color scheme of warm foreground, green middle ground, and blue distance follows Patinir's established convention.
Provenance
Imperial collection, Belvedere Palace, Gemäldegalerie, Vienna, by 1783;[1] Kunsthistorisches Museum, Gemäldegalerie, Vienna, c. 1891; (Frederick Mont, New York); purchased 24 September 1953 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[2] gift 1961 to NGA. [1] The earliest mention of the painting is in Christian von Mechel, _Verzeichniss der Gemälde der Kaiserlich Königlichen Bilder Gallerie in Wien_ (Vienna, 1783), 167, no. 77. On the reverse of the panel are five paper labels: _23; II.D.u.N.II.20_ (this refers to the painting's location in the Belvedere Palace, that is, on the second floor, German and Netherlandish gallery, second room); _Aus dem Inventar des Gemäldegalerie gestrichen. Wien II Februar 1952.; Kunsthistorisches Museum in Wien / Direktion der Gemäldegalerie_ stamped, _K 1970_ in pencil; _2 St:37:/A.N.S./ N:37; Gemälde Galerie des Allerh. Kaisershauses. No. 953_, crossed out in red ink. [2] See The Kress Collection Digital archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/2179.
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