Rest on the Flight into Egypt (1509, Met-Objekt 2390)
Original title: Rest on the Flight into Egypt
kurzbeschreibung
Fleeing into Egypt, the Holy Family pauses to rest: Mary has settled on a rock with the Christ Child in her arms, while Joseph stands beside her with the donkey. Lucas Cranach the Elder captured this biblical episode in a woodcut of 1509, with several putti frolicking around them in an idyllic landscape.
Description
Mary sits raised on a rock, the child on her lap; to one side Joseph holds the donkey in check. The putti are scattered across the whole sheet — some clamber up into the trees, others rest or romp on the ground. A town framed by trees closes off the pictorial space. The layout feels considered and balanced, the light evenly spread, and the rendering stays monochrome.
Context
Cranach made this woodcut in 1509, while serving as court painter at the Saxon electoral court in Wittenberg. In the late Middle Ages and the early modern period, the Flight into Egypt belonged to the familiar repertoire of devotional art. Pairing the biblical account with playful putti was standard practice in his workshop and gave the event a popular, relaxed touch.
Impact
The landscape with its playing putti lends the sheet a peaceful, graceful character. What the drawing holds in delicate lines gives the scene something narrative and draws the viewer's eye into the action.
Technique
Printing began with a woodblock into which the artist had first cut the design; from there it was transferred to paper. The linework is deliberate and careful, producing an even, richly differentiated internal drawing. That only one colour was used matches the usual practice of this printing technique in the Renaissance.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)