The Flight into Egypt

Art Historical Context

Behold *The Flight into Egypt*1613), a masterful and etching by Hendrick Goudt after the original painting by Adam Elshe. This poignant depiction draws from the biblical story in the Gospel of Matthew, where the Family—Mary, Joseph, and the Jesus—flees to Egypt to escape King Herod's massacre of innocents. Elsheimer, a pioneering German artist of the early Baroque, was renowned for his luminous,-like oil paintings on copper, blending intricate detail with atmospheric depth. Goudt, a Dutch engraver, faithfully reproduced this scene, capturing its nocturnal drama and tender humanity amid a starry landscape. The print's mixed technique of engraving and etching allowed for exquisite precision: etching for fluid skies and foliage, engraving for sharp figures and architecture. Measuring 13 11/16 × 15 7/8 inches, it exemplifies how reproductive prints democratized art, bringing Elsheimer's innovative nocturnes—lit by moonlight and torchlight—to wider audiences across Europe. Acquired through the Harris Brisbane Dick Fund in 1928, this work from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department highlights the era's fusion of Northern precision and emerging Baroque emotion, influencing masters like Rembrandt. In the Met's galleries, it invites visitors to ponder themes of refuge and divine protection, a timeless narrative rendered with 17th-century virtuosity.

About the Artist

Hendrick Goudt|Adam Elsheimer · 1580–1648

**Hendrick Goudt** (c. 1583 – 17 December 1648) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and draftsman renowned for his landscapes and religious subjects in the Baroque style. Born in The Hague to Arend Goudt and Anneken Cool, he came from a family of high officials and nobility; his grandfather held prominent positions, and he was the nephew and heir of Willem Goudt, steward of the States of H...