Landscape with the Flight into Egypt
Roelant Savery·1624
Historical Context
Roelandt Savery painted this landscape with the Flight into Egypt in 1624, using the biblical subject as a pretext for one of his richly detailed nature scenes. Savery spent years at the court of Rudolf II in Prague, where the emperor's famed menagerie and collections of natural curiosities deeply influenced his art. His landscapes teem with carefully observed plants and animals, reflecting the Kunstkammer culture that valued the cataloguing of nature's diversity.
Technical Analysis
The oil on panel is densely packed with botanical and zoological detail rendered with scientific precision. Savery's technique combines the panoramic landscape tradition of the Flemish school with the meticulous natural history illustration fostered at the Rudolfine court.
Provenance
(Anthony Speelman, London);[1] Robert H. Smith, Washington, D.C., by 1988; (sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 14 January 1988, no. 86, bought in); Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Smith, Washington, D.C.; gift 1989 to NGA. [1] In a letter of 7 September 1993 (in NGA curatorial files), Anthony Speelman wrote to Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr.: "The only provenance that I have on the Savery is that it was bought in c. 1890 in Berne by the previous owner's family..."
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