Muse

- Painted in 1609, the year before Elsheimer died

- owned by Munich’s Alte Pinakothek

- Elsheimer was the first artist to portray the scene at night, as it was recounted by St. Matthew, who wrote the only biblical account of the episode

- 12¼ inches by 16¼ inches.  Painted on copper, whose smooth, nonporous surface intensifies the luminosity of the oil paint, makes his colors sparkle, and sharpens his minute details

- Description:

“In the center foreground, set against the dark forest, is the Holy Family. They are fleeing to escape King Herod’s diktat that all baby boys in his domain be killed lest one of them replace him. The light from Joseph’s torch shines just enough to see bare outlines of Mary, holding Jesus, sitting upon an ass that also bears a few of their possessions. Joseph walks beside them, only slightly more defined by his lamp. Clad in a red cloak, he reaches out affectionately, tenderly, to Jesus.

Off in the distance on the left, much smaller in size, is a group illuminated by a brighter campfire—the painting’s second of three light sources. They are shepherds settling in for the night, with their sheep and cows in the shadows nearby. Trying to stay warm, they have not yet noticed the Holy Family. Elsheimer is referencing the shepherds in the nativity story, who received the news of Jesus’s birth from an angel and went to him, bearing witness as representatives of all humanity.”

- Elsheimer painted “The Flight Into Egypt” while living in Rome

- At age 32, he died in poverty. “The Flight Into Egypt” was his last painting. It hangs in a side “cabinet” gallery in the Alte Pinakothek

Source:

The Story Within a Landscape