83 - Viceregal School. Peru. 18th century.

Viceregal School. Peru. 18th century. "Rest on the Flight into Egypt" Oil on canvas. 82 x 65,5 cm. A beautiful painting on canvas in which our artist narrates, through colour, the theme of the “Rest on the Flight into Egypt”, a subject in Christian art depicting the Holy Family stopping during their journey to escape the persecution of King Herod. Although the biblical episode is mentioned in the Gospel of Saint Matthew (Mt 2:13–15), much of its iconography developed from apocryphal gospels, such as the Gospel of Pseudo Matthew, or the “Life of Christ”, a medieval devotional text. Our Peruvian painter adapts a sacred scene to a distinctly local setting, possibly incorporating native flora and botanical species, landscapes of the Andean mountain range, and faces with Indigenous features, as can be seen in Saint Joseph himself. For this “Rest on the Flight into Egypt”, we believe the artist drew on two woodcuts by the same artist, Lucas Cranach the Elder, borrowing specific details from each to depict his figures. Cranach produced several woodcuts featuring this iconography, notably the versions dating from 1509, such as those in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Art (A), and the 1520 version in the National Gallery of Art (B). In all these works, the composition is limited to the Holy Family, consisting of Mary, Joseph and the Child, surrounded by angels, but Saint Anne is not included. From the first woodcut, the artist takes the figure of Mary breastfeeding the Child, rather than the Child himself, who is shown from behind. From the second, he copies the Child interacting with those around him, his arms outstretched. In both prints, Joseph appears in the background. Saint Anne, omitted from both woodcuts, may derive from the devotional tradition of Saint Anne with the Virgin and Child, known as Anna Selbdritt, adapted here to form part of this family scene. Our painting also omits the choir of musical or playful angels set in an Alpine landscape, which Cranach the Elder depicted in his most famous work on this subject, dating from 1504 and now housed in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin. Saint Anne is likewise absent from that painting. The Virgin Mary occupies the centre of the composition, or the foreground, breastfeeding the Christ Child, a motif known as the Virgo Lactans or Galactotrophousa, which conveys the deeply human and tender dimension of divine motherhood. She is depicted beneath one or more leafy trees, an apple tree or a palm tree, depending on the legend. The Christ Child rests on his mother's lap, feeding, awake and full of life, as in the second woodcut. Saint Joseph, always relegated to the background and leaning on his flowering staff, appears detached, silently and humbly contemplating the Life bestowed upon him through his role as the earthly father of the figure whom Catholic doctrine identifies as the Divine Saviour. Our painting features a palm tree inspired by the account of the miracle in the apocryphal Gospel of Pseudo Matthew. According to this narrative, Saint Joseph struck the tree at the Child's command, causing it to bend so that Mary could eat its fruit. A spring also emerged from its roots, a detail included in our painting and situated just to the left of Joseph. Grandmother Anne plays a quiet yet highly significant role in this work. She holds a thorny rose, which she offers to her grandson as a prefiguration of the Passion. The thorns of this gift already foreshadow “the blood that Christ will shed”, anticipating his ultimate sacrifice. This is a meticulous and richly detailed devotional painting, perhaps intended for catechetical instruction, or primarily conceived to facilitate a spiritual encounter between the collector, whether a believer or not, and the divine. It thus serves as a bridge to prayer, contemplation and faith.