Shop art print and framed art La fuite en Egypte by Nicolas Poussin

The Flight into Egypt was painted by Nicolas Poussin in 1657 or 1658. Having lived in Rome since 1642, the 63-year-old painter produced a work of declining maturity on a classical religious theme. The painting has been in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon in France since 2008. Having undergone a high-level appraisal, it has been classified as a national treasure. The Flight into Egypt was commissioned from Nicolas Poussin by Jacques Sérisier, a silk merchant from Lyon and a friend and collector of the master. The painting was lost to history after the death of the commissioner in 1667. Although known from engravings, a painting depicting the Flight into Egypt was discovered at auction in 1986. In the space of around twenty years, the painting went from being a work from Poussin's studio (although it is not certain that Poussin ever had a "studio") to being one of his autograph paintings and a National Treasure. The Flight into Egypt is an episode in the life of Christ mentioned in a passage of the Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 2, 13-14) and frequently repeated in Christian iconography: the Holy Family - Joseph, Mary and the Child Jesus - flee to Egypt to avoid the soldiers of King Herod, who wants to kill the Child Jesus by eliminating all male children under the age of two from his kingdom. In the centre of the painting, Mary, holding the Child Jesus in her arms, moves towards the right and looks back. Joseph looks up at the angel guiding them, one hand on the neck of the [...]

 

This artwork is a painting from the classical period. It belongs to the classicism style.

 

« La fuite en Egypte » is kept at Musée du Louvre, Paris, France.

 

Find the full description of La fuite en Egypte by Nicolas Poussin on Wikipedia.