The Flight into Egypt

The Flight into Egypt at the Art Institute of Chicago, painted around 1485, is a companion work to Butinone's Descent from the Cross — both likely forming part of the same altarpiece complex or series of devotional panels for a Lombard church or private patron. The Flight into Egypt, depicting Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus fleeing Herod's massacre of the Innocents, was a subject with particular appeal for Lombard patrons: its combination of tender family intimacy with dramatic urgency made it one of the most emotionally resonant narratives in the Christian tradition.

The Lombard landscape through which the Holy Family travels is rendered with careful attention to natural detail characteristic of Butinone's background — individual plants, rock formations, and distant views are observed with precision. The donkey bearing Mary and the Christ child is painted with the same specificity applied to the human figures.