The Rest on the Flight into Egypt

c. 1510

Gerard David

Artist, Netherlandish, c. 1460 - 1523

Against a deep, hilly landscape, a young woman sits facing us on a rocky ledge with a small child in her lap in this square painting. The woman and child, Mary and Jesus, both have pale skin and blond hair. Mary wears a cobalt-blue gown over a coral-pink undergarment that peeks out from under the bottom hem and at her cuffs. A paler blue mantle is draped over the back of her head and falls to cover her shoulders and body. A sheer white veil covers her hair and forehead. Jesus wears a sheer white, loose, long-sleeved tunic. Both gaze downward to the bunch of green grapes Mary holds delicately in her left hand, to our right. Jesus reaches forward with both hands to pluck some fruit as Mary supports his body with her other hand. An oval shaped, woven basket with a lid sits on the ground next to Mary’s feet. The gray, rocky outcropping on which they sit is blanketed with straw-colored moss or other growth. A small clearing behind the pair is framed by trees on either side. The trees have tall, slender trunks speckled with light gray patches and canopies of olive and celery-green leaves. To our left and beyond the outcropping, a gray donkey stands behind a tree, nibbling on some grasses at the edge of the outcropping. To our right, in the middle distance, a pale-skinned, bearded man stands and arches back with a long stick raised overhead, as if about to strike the tree in front of him. Beyond him and about two-thirds of the way up the panel, a row of dark green shrubbery separates the clearing from rolling blue hills in the distance.

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The short biblical account of the Flight into Egypt (Matt. 2:13–14) was elaborated upon by Early Christian and medieval theologians. In one of these apocryphal legends, the weary family paused during their journey after three days of travel. The Virgin longed for food, but the date–palm branches were too high for Joseph to pick any fruit. Thereupon Jesus commanded the tree to lower its branches. David deemphasized this miracle by giving Joseph a sturdy stick and by replacing the date palm with a Flemish chestnut tree, but a sixteenth–century audience would have remembered the apocryphal story. There are also indications of the special significance of the family: the Madonna wears robes in her symbolic colors of red and blue; fine rays of golden light emanate from the mother's head and that of the child; and the bunch of grapes held by the Madonna is a well–known symbol of the Eucharist.

David created a mood of calm equilibrium. The Madonna and Child are centrally placed, while receding diagonals and alternating bands of light and dark skillfully lead back into the landscape and harmoniously relate the figures to their surroundings. The predominance of the restful color blue throughout the composition unifies the work. All in all, The Rest on the Flight into Egypt is one of Gerard David's loveliest and most peaceful creations.

More information on this painting can be found in the Gallery publication Early Netherlandish Painting, which is available as a free PDF https://www.nga.gov/content/dam/ngaweb/research/publications/pdfs/early-netherlandish-painting.pdf

On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 41-A

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on panel

  • Credit Line

    Andrew W. Mellon Collection

  • Dimensions

    painted surface: 41.9 x 42.2 cm (16 1/2 x 16 5/8 in.)
    overall (panel): 44.3 x 44.9 cm (17 7/16 x 17 11/16 in.)
    framed: 69.2 x 54.6 cm (27 1/4 x 21 1/2 in.)

  • Accession

    1937.1.43

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Acquired c. 1845 by The Rev. Montague Taylor [d. 1896], London; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 19 May 1897, no. 152). (P. & D. Colnaghi and Co., London). acquired March 1898 by Rodolphe Kann [d. 1905], Paris;[1] acquired 1907 from the Kann estate by (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris). J. Pierpont Morgan, Sr. [1837-1913], New York, acquired c. 1908.[2] (M. Knoedler & Co., New York); purchased December 1935 by The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh; gift 1937 to NGA.
[1] Burton Fredericksen (Getty Provenance Index) provided John Oliver Hand (Curator of Northern Renaissance Paintings, NGA) with the date of acquisition, the preceding sale and dealer information, as well as the date of acquisition by Duveen Brothers.
[2] Information in Knoedler brochure in the NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1911

  • On loan to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1911-1916, no cat.

1920

  • Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1920, unnumbered catalogue.

1937

  • Paintings and Sculpture Owned in Washington, Phillips Memorial Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1937, no. 7.

1998

  • From Van Eyck to Bruegel: Early Netherlandish Painting in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1998-1999, fig. 99.

Bibliography

1900

  • Helbig, Jules. "Joachim Patenier." Reuve de l'art chrétien 11 (1900): pl. 8.

  • Bode, Wilhelm von. Gemälde-sammlung des Herrn Rudolf Kann in Paris. Vienna, 1900: xxx, pl. 83.

1901

  • Michel, Émile. "La Galerie de M. Rodolphe Kann." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 25 (1901): 498.

1903

  • Marguillier, Auguste. "La Collection de M. Rodolphe Kann." Les Arts (January, 1903): 4 repro.

1905

  • Bodenhausen, Eberhard Freiherr von. Gerard David und seine Schule. Munich, 1905: 186-188.

1907

  • Bode, Wilhelm von. Catalogue of the Rodolphe Kann Collection. Paris, 1907: 1, xxxi; 2, 7, repro. 6.

1908

  • Nicolle, Marcel. "La Collection Rodolphe Kann." Revue de l'Art Ancien et Moderne 23 (1908): 193.

1911

  • Catalogue of the Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1911: 1905; Addenda: not paignated.

1914

  • Burroughs, Bryson. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Catalogue of Paintings. New York, 1914: 61 (also 1916 ed.: 66).

1916

  • Friedländer, Max J. Von Eyck bis Bruegel. Berlin, 1916: 181.

1920

  • Ivins, W.M. Jr. "Pictures Lent for the Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition." Bulletin of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 15 (August, 1920): 189.

1921

  • Conway, Martin. The Van Eycks and Their Followers. London, 1921: 350-351.

1924

  • Friedländer, Max. Die altniederländische Malerei. 14 vols. Berlin and Leiden, 1924-1937. Berlin, 1934: 6:155, no. 214. (English transl. 14 vols. Leiden, 1967-1976. Leiden, 1971: 6, pt. 2:no. 214, pl. 217.)

1935

  • "Twenty Masterpieces at Messrs. Knoedler's." The Burlington Magazine 66 (1935): 299, frontispiece.

1937

  • Jewell, Edward Alden. "Mellon's Gift." Magazine of Art 30, no. 2 (February 1937): 73.

1941

  • Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 53-54, no. 43.

  • De Tolnay, Charles. "Flemish Painting in the National Gallery of Art." Magazine of Art 34 (April 1941): 182-185, fig. 12.

  • Held, Julius S. "Masters of Northern Europe, 1430-1660, in the National Gallery." Art News 40, no. 8 (June 1941): 12.

1942

  • Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 240, repro. 37.

1944

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Masterpieces of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1944: 88, color repro.

1949

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 56, repro.

  • L. J. Roggeveen. "De National Gallery of Art te Washington." Phoenix 4, no. 12 (December 1949): 340.

1957

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 25.

1960

  • Broadley Hugh T. Flemish Painting in the National Gallery of Art (Booklet no. 5 in Ten Schools of Painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC). Washington, 1960: 42, color repro. on cover.

  • The National Gallery of Art and Its Collections. Foreword by Perry B. Cott and notes by Otto Stelzer. National Gallery of Art, Washington (undated, 1960s): 10.

1963

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 104, repro.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 38.

1966

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1:88-89, color repro.

1968

  • Cuttler, Charles D. Northern Painting, from Pucelle to Bruegel: Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Sixteenth Centuries. New York, 1968: 195-196, fig. 245.

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture: Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 31, repro.

  • Gandolfo, Giampaolo et al. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Great Museums of the World. New York, 1968: 12, 111-112, color repro.

1970

  • Cooke, Hereward Lester. The National Gallery of Art in Washington. Munich and Ahrbeck/Hanover, 1970: 68-69, color fig. 31.

1975

  • Bermejo, Elisa. "Nuevas Pinturas de Adrian Isenbrant." Archivo Español de Arte y Arqueologia 48 (1975): 16.

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 94, repro.

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 132, repro. 133.

1979

  • Dufey-Haeck, Marie-Louise. "Le Thème du repos pendant la fuite en Egypte dans la peinture flamande de la seconde moitié du XVe au milieu du XVIe siècle." Revue Belge d'Archéologie et d'Histoire de l'Art 48 (1979): 54, 53, fig. 2.

  • Watson, Ross. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1979: 54, color pl. 36.

1981

  • Mundy, E. James. "Gerard David's Rest on the Flight into Egypt: further additions to grape symbolism." Simiolus 12 (1981-1982): 211-222, figs. 1-3.

1982

  • Abrams, Richard I. and Warner A. Hutchinson. An Illustrated Life of Jesus, From the National Gallery of Art Collection. Nashville, 1982: 56-57, color repro.

1983

  • Wilson, Jean. "Adriaen Isenbrant Reconsidered: The Making and Marketing of Art in Sixteenth-Century Bruges." Ph.D. dissertation, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 1983: 51-52, 60-64, 212-213, pl. 66.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 132, no. 124, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 116, repro.

  • Snyder, James. Northern Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture, the Graphic Arts from 1350-1575. New York, 1985: 192, fig. 189.

1986

  • Hand, John Oliver and Martha Wolff. Early Netherlandish Painting. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1986: 63-68, repro. 65.

1992

  • National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1992: 44, repro.

  • Hall, Nicholas H. J., ed. Colnaghi in America: A Survey to Commemorate the First Decade of Colnaghi, New York. New York, 1992: 133.

1996

  • Vos, Dirk de. "David, Gerhard." In The Dictionary of Art. Edited by Jane Turner. 34 vols. New York and London, 1996: 8:553.

1997

  • Nissen, Ricarda. Ich Komme zu dir, 1997, p. 42, repro.

1998

  • From Van Eyck to Bruegel: Early Netherlandish Painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Edited by Maryan W. Ainsworth and Keith Christiansen. Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998. New York, 1998: 308-311, fig. 99. (NGA painting was not in the exhibition.)

  • Gibson, Sarah S. and Alicia Craig Faxon. "Journey/Flight." In Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art, edited by Helene E. Roberts. 2 vols. Chicago, 1998: 1:446.

2004

  • Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: ii, 122-123, no. 92, color repros.

2005

  • Snyder, James. Northern Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture, the Graphic Arts from 1350 to 1575. Revised by Larry Silver and Henry Luttikhuizen. Upper Saddle River, 2005: 213, col. fig. 10.27.

2010

  • Villa, Giovanni Carlo Federico, ed. Cima da Conegliano: poeta del paesaggio. Exh. cat. Palazzo Sarcinelli, Conegliano, 2010: 67.

2016

  • Warner-Johnson, Tim, and Jeremy Howard, eds. Colnaghi: Past, Present and Future: An Anthology. London, 2016: 70-71, color plate 12.

Wikidata ID

Q20175244

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