The Flight into Egypt
Medium
Etching on paper
Dimensions
Image: 29.5 × 20.6 cm (11 5/8 × 8 1/8 in.); Sheet: 29.8 × 20.6 cm (11 3/4 × 8 1/8 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
58586
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Executed during Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione's second visit to Rome, this classical composition illustrates the Biblical story in which the infant Christ commanded a palm tree to bow down so that the Virgin might pick its fruit during the Holy Family's flight into Egypt to escape Herod's soldiers.
About the Artist
Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione · 1609–1664
Versatile and eclectic artist open to foreign influence which was unusual for an Italian artist of his time. Some of his best-known works are somewhat fantastical. He was court painter at Mantua from 1648. Comment on works: Religious; Landscapes; Animals; Mythology.