Nocturnal Landscape with the Holy Family resting on the flight into Egypt

Rembrandt · PD

Nocturnal Landscape with the Holy Family resting on the flight into Egypt


Details

Artist
Rembrandt
Year
1647
Medium
oil paint
Type
painting
Dimensions
34 × 48 cm

The story

The holy story here is almost hidden. Mary, Joseph and the infant Christ, resting on their flight into Egypt, are tucked into the lower left, lit by a small fire among a group of herdsmen who have no idea who their guests are. Everything else is night: a dark mass of trees, a hill, a faint moon, water catching the last light. Painted in 1647, this is Rembrandt's only true nocturnal landscape, and he lets the darkness do most of the work, with the campfire and the moon as the only ways in. A team of horses and a wagon can just be made out crossing the gloom at the right.

Nocturnal Landscape with the Holy Family resting on the flight into Egypt — Rembrandt — MuseScope