Museo de Arte de Ponce. The Luis A. Ferré Foundation, Inc.

The Flight into Egypt

Artist Joos van Cleve (South Netherlandish, ca. 1485 - 1540/41)

Dateca.1520

Object number58.0045

Mediumoil on panel

Dimensions25 7/16 × 17 1/2 in. (64.6 × 44.5 cm)

ClassificationsPainting

Credit LineMuseo de Arte de Ponce. The Luis A. Ferré Foundation, Inc.

Collections

European Art until 1600

DescriptionPainted with almost photographic precision, this fantastic landscape is crammed with symbolic references to Christ’s divinity. The broken bronze statue alludes to the legend in which Christ, upon entering Egypt, caused pagan idols to collapse to the ground. A conspicuously placed tree foreshadows Christ’s Crucifixion and suggests how the dead wood of the Cross would be transformed into the tree of eternal life through his sacrifice. Even the beautiful pool in the right foreground recalls the cleansing waters of baptism.

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