The Flight into Egypt
Carlo Maratta (Camerano 1625 – Rome 1713)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1642 - 1713
Materials
Oil on copper
Measurements
514 x 375 mm (20 1/4 x 14 3/4 in)
Place of origin
Rome
Order this imageCollection
Stourhead, Wiltshire
NT 732107
Caption
According to the Gospel of Matthew, Mary, Joseph and Jesus travelled to Egypt, seeking safety away from the threat of Herod. Instead of sitting on the donkey, the Virgin Mary is seen walking on foot, passed a palm tree, beside a river, cradling the baby Jesus and the animal is following behind. The presence of the two infant putti, taken from mythology, holding a garland and walking alongside, an angel-putto hovering above with a white banner and cherubim and seraphim heads fluttering in the sky is unusual for this earthly subject. It is a devotional image rather than just an illustration to the narrative. The picture is a reduced version on copper of an original (1642) by the same artist in the Alaleona chapel (Capella di San Giuseppe) in the church of S. Isidoro, Rome.
Summary
Oil painting on copper, The Flight into Egypt by Carlo Maratta (Camerano 1625 - Rome 1713). The Virgin Mary is seen walking on foot, cradling the baby Jesus and the ass is following behind, on the right, accompanied by two infant putti holding a garland walking alongside. In the background on the right is a large palm tree and beyond a river valley. Above, on the left, cherubim and seraphim heads flutter in the sky and another angel-putto hovers with a white banner. The biblical scene related in Matthew 2: 13-15 depicts Mary, Joseph and Jesus travelling to Egypt, seeking safety away from the threat of Herod. The picture is an authentic copy of a 1642 original by Maratta in the Alaleona chapel (Capella di San Giuseppe) in the church of St Isidore, Rome.
Provenance
Acquired by Henry II Hoare (1705-85) and thence by descent; in Stourhead House by 1762; given to the National Trust along with the house, its grounds, and the rest of contents by Sir Henry Hugh Arthur Hoare, 6th Bt (1865 – 1947) in 1946.
Credit line
Stourhead, The Hoare Collection (The National Trust)
Makers and roles
Carlo Maratta (Camerano 1625 – Rome 1713), artist previously catalogued as studio of Carlo Maratta (Camerano 1625 – Rome 1713), artist
References
Walpole 1927-28 Paget Toynbee (ed.), 'Horace Walpole's Journals of Visits to Country Seats, etc.', 1760-62, Walpole Society XVI, 1927 -28 pp. 9-80, p.41 Stourhead 1785 Schedule of Pictures left by Henry Hoare at his death, 1785 Waagen 1854-7: Gustav Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain, 3 vols. (translated by Lady Eastlake) with a supplementary volume: Galleries and Cabinets of Art in Great Britain, London, 1854-7, Vol.III, p.172