The Flight into Egypt (c. 1650): Artwork and History

The Flight into Egypt (c. 1650) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Abraham van Diepenbeeck (Flemish, 1596-1675).

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

The flight into Egypt—a common subject in European art—refers to an episode in the life of Christ when his family fled King Herod, who sought to kill the infant Jesus. Abraham van Diepenbeeck made the theme his own by including an angel and the inquisitive cow at bottom right. This panel was not intended to be a finished painting; it is instead a grisaille (monochrome grey) oil sketch, which was then translated into an engraving. Collaborating with printmakers could be lucrative for painters while also providing an opportunity to advertise their artistry more widely.

Object facts

• Title: The Flight into Egypt
• Date: c. 1650
• Artist attribution: Abraham van Diepenbeeck (Flemish, 1596-1675)
• Place of origin: Flanders
• Medium: Oil on panel
• Dimensions: 43.8 × 31.8 cm (17 1/4 × 12 1/2 in.); Framed: 64.8 × 53.4 × 10.2 cm (25 1/2 × 21 × 4 in.)
• Type: Painting
• Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe
• Reference number: 1963.44

Collection credit

Gift of Mrs. Michael W. Straus in memory of Michael Straus

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The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.