Albrecht DürerGerman, 1471–1528The Flight into Egypt
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Not receiving at present
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
Although Dürer’s woodcut depicts a later event in the biblical narrative, the composition is similar to the scene from the Mirror of Holiness, "Mary and Joseph Travel to Bethlehem" CMA 2005.145.24.b—even to the inclusion of an ox. Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus fled Jerusalem for Egypt after Joseph was warned in a dream that Jesus’s life was in danger. The dense, dark forest through which the Holy Family travels seems to close threateningly around them. While the Indian artist envisioned a “pack beast” as a camel, Dürer invented a Middle Eastern landscape by incorporating a palm tree and other curious vegetation.
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Particulars
- Accession number
- 1959.99.14
In the catalog
Sources
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Image: The Cleveland Museum of Art — Museum open access
Meanwhile, in the life of Albrecht Dürer
The whole life1501–1502
In the circle of Nuremberg's humanists
Through his lifelong friend Willibald Pirckheimer, Dürer entered the circle of Nuremberg's humanists. He engraved illustrations for Conrad Celtis's editions of Hrotsvitha (1501) and of his Four Books of Love (1502), and decorated 14 books in Pirckheimer's library with drawings.
1502
Death of his father
Albrecht Dürer the Elder died, and his son took on the care of his mother and his two younger brothers, Endres and Hans.
1504 · Workplace
Lutherstadt Wittenberg
1505
Second journey to Italy
Dürer set off for Italy again — perhaps not only to earn money but also to stop Marcantonio Raimondi from copying his prints. His stay in Venice is known from ten surviving letters to Pirckheimer.
1505–1507
To Bologna for the secrets of perspective
Dürer travelled to the university city of Bologna, hoping to learn the secrets of geometric perspective from its scholars. He then meant to visit Mantegna in Padua but received news of his death, which he greatly regretted afterwards.
1505–1507
Friendship with Giovanni Bellini
Dürer considered Giovanni Bellini “the best in painting”, the only Venetian master with whom he became friends. The Madonna of the Siskin may have been painted at Bellini's request.
![Madonna and Child [obverse], Albrecht Dürer, c. 1496/1499](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/878db7e6-10ae-4cae-ba5d-6d6f5c413ae8/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
![Lot and His Daughters [reverse], Albrecht Dürer, c. 1496/1499](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/7565a449-f82a-414b-9bda-c93f55a51b4d/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
