The Flight into Egypt
c. 1515
Painter, Venetian, c. 1465 - 1525/1526
Joseph, Mary, and her newborn son, Jesus, have fled Bethlehem and are on the road to Egypt. They are escaping from King Herod, who wanted the child killed. Rather than focus on their urgent flight, Carpaccio shows the Holy Family mid-journey, their pace unhurried. Joseph urges the plodding donkey onward and looks back caringly at Mary and the child. The setting is tranquil, with dawn breaking over a lush landscape and a meandering river.
This story tapped into the growing popularity in sixteenth-century Venice of Saint Joseph as an ideal father. It also enabled Carpaccio to showcase his talent for depicting textures, from the donkey’s fuzzy fur to Mary’s almost metallic cloak. Such a family subject would have been appropriate for display in the home.
West Building Main Floor, Gallery 10
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on panel
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
painted surface: 72 x 111 cm (28 3/8 x 43 11/16 in.)
overall (including attached pieces): 74 x 113 cm (29 1/8 x 44 1/2 in.)
framed: 122.9 x 160 cm (48 3/8 x 63 in.) -
Accession
1937.1.28
More About this Artwork
Article: Who Is Vittore Carpaccio? Seven Things to Know
Carpaccio has been celebrated in Venice for centuries, but many of us are getting to know him for the first time.
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Edward Solly [1776-1844], Berlin; purchased 1821 for the Königliche Museen (painting collection installed 1904 in the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum), Berlin; sold 1924 to (Charles Albert de Burlet, Berlin). (Professor Luigi Grassi [1858-1937], Florence and Rome).[1] (Arthur J. Sulley & Co., London). acquired 1927 by Otto H. Kahn [1867-1934], New York. (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York); purchased 26 April 1937 by The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh;[2] gift 1937 to NGA.
[1] Ellis K. Waterhouse, "Review of Fern Rusk Shapley, Catalogue of the Italian Paintings, 2 vols., Washington, D.C., 1979," The Burlington Magazine 122 (September 1980): 637, states that the painting is "widely believed to have been painted almost entirely by Luigi Grassi." However, conservation examination and treatment by the NGA that was concluded in 1995 indicates that the original paint layer is well preserved.
[2] Mellon Trust purchase date is according to Mellon collection files in NGA curatorial records and David Finley's notebook (donated to the National Gallery of Art in 1977, now in the Gallery Archives).
Associated Names
Exhibition History
2016
Glory of Venice: Masterworks of the Renaissance, Denver Art Museum; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, 2016-2017, no. 31, repro.
2022
Vittore Carpaccio: Master Storyteller of Renaissance Venice, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Fondazione Musei Civici, Palazzo Ducale, Venice, 2022-2023, no. 86, repro.
Bibliography
1830
Waagen, Gustav Friedrich. Verzeichniss der Gemälde-Sammlung des Köninglichen Museums zu Berlin. Berlin, 1830: 29, no. 61.
1923
Marle, Raimond van. The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting. 19 vols. The Hague, 1923-1938: 18(1936):282, fig. 170.
1926
Venturi, Adolfo. “La Fuga in Egitto di Antonello da Messina.” L’Arte 29 (1926): 121-123, pls. 1, 2, fig. 1, as by Antonello da Messina.
1931
Mayer, August L. "Ein neues Carpaccio-Buch." Pantheon 8 (1931): 394.
Fiocco, Giuseppe. Carpaccio. Paris, 1931: 23-24.
1932
Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Oxford, 1932: 72, as by Giovanni Bellini.
Fiocco, Giuseppe. "Nuovi documenti intorno a Vittore Carpaccio." Bollettino d'Arte 26 (1932): 124-125, fig. 12.
1936
Berenson, Bernard. Pitture italiane del rinascimento. Milan, 1936: 62, as by Giovanni Bellini.
1937
Gamba, Carlo. Giovanni Bellini. Milan, 1937: 232, as by Giovanni Bellini.
1939
Bottari, Stefano. Antonello da Messina. Messina and Milan, 1939: 120 n. 46.
1941
Duveen Brothers. Duveen Pictures in Public Collections of America. New York, 1941: no. 82, repro., as by Giovanni Bellini.
Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 19, no. 28, as by Giovanni Bellini.
1942
Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 239, repro. 67, as by Giovanni Bellini.
1949
Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 34, repro.
Dussler, Luitpold. Giovanni Bellini. Vienna, 1949: 79
1953
Bottari, Stefano. Antonello da Messina. Milan, 1953: 120 n. 46.
1955
Pignatti, Terisio. Carpaccio. Milan, 1955: 38-39, figs. 21, 22.
1957
Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: Venetian School. 2 vols. London, 1957: 1:36, as by Giovanni Bellini.
1958
Fiocco, Giuseppe. Carpaccio. Revised edition. Novara, 1958: 8, 15, 32.
Pignatti, Terisio. Carpaccio. New York, 1958: 88-90.
1959
Bologna, Ferdinando. "Un ritratto del doge Leonardo Loredan." Arte Antica e Moderna 5 (1959): 76.
1960
Perocco, Guido. Tutta la pittura del Carpaccio. Milan, 1960: 51, pls. 70, 71.
1962
Heinemann, Fritz. Giovanni Bellini e i belliniani. 2 vols. Venice, 1962: 1:167, fig. 656, as by Girolamo da Santacroce.
Lauts, Jan. Carpaccio. Paintings and Drawings. Complete Edition. Greenwich, CT, 1962: 252-253, pl. 71.
1963
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 302, repro., as by Giovanni Bellini.
Zampetti, Pietro, ed. Vittore Carpaccio. Catalogo della mostra. Exh. cat. Palazzo Ducale, Venice, 1963: XLII-LIX, fig. 9.
Pallucchini, Rodolfo. “Un libro su Giovanni Bellini e i belliniani.” Paragone 14, no. 167 (November 1963): 80.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 23.
1966
Zampetti, Pietro. Vittore Carpaccio. Florence, 1966: 77.
Muraro, Michelangelo. Carpaccio. Florence, 1966: 98, as by "a good Bellini follower, probably Giovanni Mansueti."
1967
Perocco, Guido. L'opera completa del Carpaccio. Milan, 1967: 96.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 16, repro.
1972
Pignatti, Terisio. Vittore Carpaccio. Milan, 1972: 6-7.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 54, repro.
1979
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. Washington, 1979: 1:118-119; 2:pl. 81, as Attributed to Carpaccio.
Sgarbi, Vittorio. Carpaccio. Bologna, 1979: 40, cat. 15.
1980
Waterhouse, Ellis K. “Review. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings by Fern Rusk Shapley.” The Burlington Magazine 122, no. 930 (September 1980): 637.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 203, no. 240, color repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 75, repro.
1989
Valcanover, Francesco. Carpaccio. Florence, 1989: 39.
1991
Humfrey, Peter. Carpaccio: catalogo completo dei dipinti. Florence, 1991: 133, pl. 40.
1994
Sgarbi, Vittorio. Carpaccio. Milan, 1994: 166-169, 222, cat. 38, repro.
2003
Boskovits, Miklós, and David Alan Brown, et al. Italian Paintings of the Fifteenth Century. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 2003: 197-200, color repro.
2010
Martin, Kathleen. “Donkey,” in The Book of Symbols. Cologne, 2010: 361, fig. 1.
2012
Fossaluzza, Giorgio. Vittore Carpaccio a Pozzale di Cadore, 1519: Le ultime opere per Venezia, Istria e Cadore. Zero Branco, 2012: 143, fig. 50.
Wikidata ID
Q3754063