The Rest on The Flight into Egypt

Wolf Huber painted this Rest on the Flight into Egypt around 1522, a devotional subject from the Holy Family's escape from Herod's massacre that he treated with his characteristic Danube School atmospheric quality. Huber was one of the leading figures of the Danube School alongside Altdorfer, and his Rest in Egypt compositions are distinguished by the extraordinary naturalistic landscapes that surround and frame the intimate figure group. The Holy Family's pause in their journey—the Virgin nursing or tending the infant while Joseph rests or gathers food—provided an occasion for Huber to deploy his special gifts in landscape observation: the specific quality of German forest vegetation, the atmospheric depth of his horizons, and the dramatic light effects that characterize the Danube School's approach to nature as expressive environment.

The panel demonstrates the artistic techniques characteristic of early sixteenth-century painting, with the careful rendering and color harmonies typical of the period's production.