The Rest on the Flight into Egypt (1587–90): Art, History and Details

The Rest on the Flight into Egypt (1587–90) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Camillo Procaccini (Italian, 1546–1629).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Camillo Procaccini used etching, a relatively new medium at the time, to create what were considered “printed drawings,” prints with the effect of spontaneous drawings, made with delicate and fluid lines on the etching plate. Here, he filled almost every inch of the composition with moving foliage, practically fusing nature with Mary, Joseph, and the Christ child, who have stopped on their flight from King Herod’s troops sent to kill Christ. Nature functions less as a container of symbols and more as a vibrant life force meant to evoke the viewer’s pious emotion.

Object facts

• Title: The Rest on the Flight into Egypt
• Date: 1587–90
• Creator attribution: Camillo Procaccini (Italian, 1546–1629)
• Culture: Italy
• Type: Print
• Technique: etching
• Dimensions: Sheet: 22 x 27 cm (8 11/16 x 10 5/8 in.)
• Collection: PR - Etching
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 2015.26

Collection credit

Severance and Greta Millikin Trust

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.