Rest on the Flight into Egypt

The Holy Family here is on the run. They are fleeing Herod's massacre of the infants, the story from Matthew's Gospel, and Dosso paints the pause in that flight rather than the flight itself. What stands out is what he leaves out. The usual version of this scene comes with a donkey and the bundles of a family on the road, and he drops all of it, keeping only the three figures in a quiet landscape. Joseph watches with a hard, wary stare, while Mary and the Child exchange a calm, knowing look, as if the danger has passed for now. Small flecks of light catch in the leaves and the folds of cloth, giving the scene the dreamlike glow Dosso liked. It is a small panel, barely larger than a sheet of paper, painted around 1515 for private prayer at home.