The Flight into Egypt

Art Historical Context

"The Flight into Egypt" depicts the biblical story of the Holy Family’s journey to safety, a subject long favored by European artists for its dramatic landscape and themes of refuge. Johann Gottlieb Prestel created this print after an original composition by the 17th-century Dutch painter Nicolaes Pietersz Berchem, whose scenes often featured travelers and pastoral settings. Produced between 1782 and 1785, the work translates Berchem’s vision into a new medium for 18th-century audiences. Prestel used aquatint combined with etching, inked in subtle tones of gray and brown. This technique was valued for its ability to suggest the soft gradations of wash drawings or paintings, allowing fine gradations of light and atmosphere within a compact square format. The result captures both the vastness of the imagined landscape and the intimate scale of the figures on their journey. Now part of the Rosenwald Collection at the National Gallery of Art, the print reflects the period’s growing interest in reproductive prints that made celebrated compositions available beyond their original locations. Its trimmed sheet and larger mount indicate it was prepared for careful study or display by collectors.