Open IIIF manifest What is IIIF IIIF viewers

Landscape with the Flight into Egypt

Maker

(Artists)
1525-1569

Title

Date of Production

1563

Medium

oil on panel

Dimensions

Height: 37.1 cm (panel)
Width: 55.6 cm (panel)

Accession Number

P.1978.PG.47

Mode of Acquisition

Count Antoine Seilern, bequest, 1978

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

On display

Keywords

Label Text

In this captivating work, Pieter Bruegel depicts the story of the Virgin Mary, Joseph and their infant son Jesus on their way to Egypt, fleeing persecution. However, Bruegel sets the scene in a dramatic European landscape, perhaps recalling his experience of crossing the Alps.

Remarkably for such a small picture, it is packed with fine details. Some symbolise the family’s arduous journey ahead. In the left foreground, three men cross a precipice on a rickety bridge. On the right, a small idol tumbles from its shrine on a dead tree trunk, marking the end of pagan worship. Made for the politician and collector Cardinal Granvelle, this work was later owned by the artist Peter Paul Rubens, whose paintings are displayed in the next room.

Provenance

Probably Cardinal Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle (1517-1586), Besancon, In the inventory of his heirs in 1607; 1640 : Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), Antwerp, appears in his estate inventory, no. 191; 1668 : Pieter Stevens (c. 1590-1668), Antwerp, sold at auction on 13 August 1668 (lot 16); Stevens was a wealthy cloth merchant and art collector; by 1682 - Diego Duarte (1612-1691), Antwerp, appears as no. 72 in his inventory/ 1691 - 1692? : bequest, Manuel Levy Duarte, Amsterdam, inherited from Diego Duarte; 1692 - ? Lord Banbury, Offered for sale by Manuel Levy Duarte on 4 August 1692; 1803 : William Neale, sold at Tom's Coffee House, Cornhill, 14 December 1803 (lot 22); Frank Holbrooke, purchased for £700 from a 'retired admiral' who had bought it 'at a country sale for a few pounds'; 1939 : bequest, Mrs Frank Holbrooke, sold at Christie's, 14 July 1939, lot 86; 1939 - 1978 : purchase, Seilern, Antoine (Count), Purchased from Mrs Frank Holbrooke at Christie's, 14 July 1939, lot 86; Princes Gate Bequest 1978

Exhibition History

The Courtauld at the National Gallery, National Gallery, London, 27/03/2019-05/08/2019

Drawings Gallery Display - Bruegel / Not Bruegel, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 16/01/2016-17/04/2016

Bruegel et son monde, Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts/Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten, Brussels, 20/08/1969-16/11/1969 ...More

Flemish Art 1300-1700, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1953-54 ...Less

Literature

Sellink, Manfred, 'The dating of Pieter Bruegel's landscape drawings reconsidered and a new discovery' in 'Master Drawings', September 2013 - pp. 291-322; 51, 3
p. 307
Fig. p. fig. 18 on p. 307
keeps date c. 1555-56

Inscriptions

Inscription: Lower right, within image, very indistinct, especially the last two figures : BRVEGEL MDLXIII

Information on this object may be incomplete and will be updated as research progresses. We are particularly committed to addressing any discriminatory or offensive language and ideas that might be present in our records. To help improve this record, and to enquire about images of The Courtauld Gallery Collection, please email gallery.collectionsonline@courtauld.ac.uk. Find out more about using and licensing our images.

____________________________

Buy a print from our collection