The Flight into Egypt

The Flight into Egypt — the Holy Family's nocturnal escape from Herod's massacre of the innocents — was a subject beloved by Baroque painters for its combination of nocturnal drama, tender family feeling, and landscape setting. Maratta's 1664 work on copper at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is exceptional in its support material: copper panels were prized for devotional cabinet paintings because the smooth, non-porous surface allowed extremely fine detail work, the colors remained vivid, and the support was virtually indestructible. Copper was significantly more expensive than panel or canvas and was chosen for treasured private devotional objects rather than large church commissions. The Metropolitan Museum's acquisition of this work places it among the finest Baroque devotional paintings in America. The nocturnal setting — the Holy Family travelling by moonlight or torch — allowed Maratta to demonstrate his mastery of artificial light effects while maintaining the tender intimacy the subject demands.

Copper support provides an exceptionally smooth, non-absorbent surface that allows the finest possible detail work with minimal paint layer thickness. Colors laid over copper retain maximum saturation and the non-porous ground means no oil is absorbed away, preserving flexibility and brilliance. Maratta likely used the smooth surface to achieve the finest modeling of the Virgin and Child's faces possible, with hair strands and fabric details rendered at miniaturist precision.