The Flight into Egypt, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1651
etching, h 127mm × w 110mm More details
Rembrandt excelled not only in expressing light and dark, but also silence and desolation. Here, Joseph and Mary, with the Christ Child blanketed in her cloak, travel to Egypt in the dark of night. Joseph’s lantern casts a weak light on the ground and only partly illuminates the silhouette of the Virgin on the donkey. She looks us directly in the eye.
