La Fuite en Égypte

This Flight into Egypt is dated to about 1510, the last year of Botticelli's life, and for a long time people refused to believe it was his. Its plain, almost rough handling seemed too simple for the painter of the Primavera, and some assumed it was a later copy. Modern study has put it back in his hands, with an assistant helping on the figure of Joseph. The scene itself is unusual: instead of riding the donkey, as she is normally shown, Mary walks on foot with the child in her arms while the animal grazes beside her. The painting entered the Paris home of the collector Nélie Jacquemart, who had a particular eye for Botticelli, and it still hangs in her house today.