Flight into Egypt
Artists offer different depictions of the Holy Family on their journey, writes Regina Haggo
ONE OF THE OLDEST PAINTINGS in Hamilton tells a Christmas story about a family on the road.
Painted nearly 500 years ago, it is part of a triptych, probably an altarpiece, belonging to the McMaster Museum of Art. The right panel, dated to around 1530, depicts the Holy Family’s trek to Egypt. The Flemish artist’s name is unknown.
The story appears in the Bible, in the gospel of Matthew (2:13-15). Shortly after Christ’s birth in Bethlehem, Joseph is told by an angel that he, Mary and the child must leave Judea to make sure Herod’s soldiers do not kill Christ. Apocryphal gospels say the Holy Family spent seven years in Egypt.
Artists tell the story in two ways. The older type, which existed by the sixth century, shows Mary holding the child and riding on a donkey while Joseph walks nearby.
The second type, originating around the 14th century, depicts the family resting during the journey. Our anonymous artist includes both types. The scene in the foreground shows the family resting.
Mary prepares to nurse her child. The act of nursing stresses her humility since she looks
like an ordinary lower-class mother suckling her own baby.
But ordinary gestures carry profound meanings. Mary’s milk-filled breast, for instance, was seen as a symbol of salvation offered to all believers.
Joseph, an energetic figure, wears red and black clothing that swirls protectively behind the mother and child.
He gazes attentively at them. His visible white stocking recalls a folk tale of how one of his stockings swaddled the child at birth.
The group rests below a road that belongs to an elaborate landscape. The setting is not Egyptian, but Northern European. It therefore offers the viewer something familiar, making for a calm reading of the narrative.
Another episode unfolds on the road. Joseph walks ahead of Mary, who sits with her bundled baby on a donkey. Joseph points to the right. A woman standing next to a big house echoes his gesture, confirming that they are travelling in the right direction.
A river snakes its way into the distance, past buildings, trees and mountains. Tiny birds soar above a tall tree.
The traditional nature of this painting contrasts with an oil created about a century later by Italian artist Orazio Gentileschi. He offers a fresh approach in keeping with a contemporary taste for novelty.
In his “Rest on the Flight to Egypt” (circa 1620) he focuses on what Joseph and Mary are thinking, a challenging undertaking.
Gentileschi’s Joseph, eyes closed and head flung back, is sleeping. In his foreshortened pose, he looks uncomfortable. Adding to his discomfort is the fact that he is lying on a big sack containing the family’s possessions, some of which are undoubtedly lumpy.
Joseph’s physical discomfort reflects his state of mind. After all, the family is travelling in a foreign land, a place they know nothing about. Joseph is responsible for their safety.
His anxieties are also manifested in the dark clouds and the starkly ambiguous setting. Instead of a landscape, the background consists of part of a rundown stuccoed brick wall. Beyond the wall, only the donkey’s head is visible.
Mary dominates the right side with her greatly elongated body. She sits on the ground, suckling her child. She bows her head to look at him, steadying him by placing her right hand on his back.
Unlike Joseph, whose worries are immediate, Mary contemplates the future — her son’s death.
Gentileschi encourages us to imagine her thoughts by reminding us of a famous work of art — Michelangelo’s marble Pieta, made 120 years earlier. The poses of Mary and the child in Gentileschi’s painting closely echo those of Mary and the dead Christ in Michelangelo’s sculpture. Regina Haggo is teaching Bold, Brash and Baroque, an eight-week introductory course about 16th- and 17th-century Italian art. You can sign up for Monday or Friday afternoon classes. Classes start on Monday, Jan. 8, and Friday, Jan. 12. To register, phone the Dundas Valley School of Art, 905-628-6357, or go to dvsa.ca. dhaggo@thespec.com