The Rest on the Flight into Egypt

c. 1626

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Guercino

Associated Names
Guercino

Artist, Bolognese, 1591 - 1666

The image shows three figures prominently, along with a child. The person on the left is seated, holding a baby in their arms, with their whole upper body visible. The person's hair is wavy, and their facial features appear soft and attentive while they look at the child. They are dressed in loose, flowing garments. To the right, another person is kneeling, attending to a bundle or pot, with their back turned. This person's attire is similar, with long sleeves and a flowing garment. An angelic figure with wings appears in the background, with facial features partially obscured by their positioning and hair slightly wavy. The background includes architectural elements like buildings with pointed rooftops and a church steeple, surrounded by trees and foliage that frame the scene. There is a donkey lying nearby, and a tree extends its branches across the top of the image.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    pen and brown ink with brown wash, squared with black chalk, on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

  • Dimensions

    overall: 23.6 x 37.6 cm (9 5/16 x 14 13/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1979.14.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Thomas Dimsdale (1758-1823); Earl Brownlow; Dan Fellows Platt [1873-1938], Englewood, New Jersey (Lugt Supp.2066b); John Davis Hatch, Lenox, Massachusetts; purchased 1979 by NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1973

  • One Hundred Master Drawings from New England Private Collections, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford; Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College; Museum of Fine Art, Boston, 1973-1974, no. 12 (Franklin W. Robinson).

1983

  • Graphics Survey Exhibition, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., February 1983.

1991

  • Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, Il Guercino (1591-1666), Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna, 1991, no. 58 (Denis Mahon).

  • Guercino, Master Draftsman, Works from North American Collections, Sackler Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa: no. 20.

Bibliography

1967

  • Mahon, Denis. I Disegni del Guercino della collezione Mahon. Bologna, 1967: 38.

1968

  • Mahon, Denis. Il Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, 1591-1666), Catalogo Critico dei Disegni. Exh. cat. Palazzo del Archiginnasio, Bologna, 1969: 110.

1970

  • Lurie, Ann Tzeutschler. "Guercino's Versions of the Rest on the Flight into Egypt and the Lancellotti Tondo," Cleveland Museum of Art Bulletin, March 1970: 97, fig. 5.

1983

  • Bagni, Prisco. Guercino a Piacenza: gli affreschi nella cupola della cattedrale. Bologna, 1983: 130-131, no. 51.

1984

  • Bagni, Prisco. Gli affeschi del Guercino nel Duomo di Piacenza. Cittadella (Padova), 1984: 133, no. 98.

1988

  • Salerno, Luigi. I dipinti del Guercino. Rome, 1988, 202, under no. 114L.

1989

  • Mahon, Denis, and Turner, Nicholas. The Drawings of Guercino in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle. Cambridge, 1989: 23-24, under nos. 40-45.

1990

  • Bentini, Jadranka, and Angelo Mazza, eds. Disegni Emiliani del Sei-Settecento: I grandi cicli di affreschi. Milan, 1990: 94, no. 14.10.

1991

  • Ebert-Schifferer, Sybille, ed. Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, Il Guercino, 1591-1666. Exh. cat. Bologna, 1991: 423, under no. 41A.

  • Turner, Nicholas, and Plazzota, Carol. Drawings by Guercino from British Collections. Exh. cat. British Museum, 1991: 92, under no. 62, and 281, under appendix no. 97.

  • Stone, David. "Supplement, Guercino Drawings in North American Collections, A Selective Checklist," in Guercino, Master Draftsman, Works from North American Collections, exh. cat. Harvard University and elsewhere, 1991, 222, no. 162.

Inscriptions

in later hand, lower right: [5 or 3?]; lower right verso: From Earl Brownlow / + Dismsdale Colls. / (Parsons, ca1926)+/ ... 1591-1666 / GUERCINO / 731

Wikidata ID

Q64572423

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