Landscape with the Flight into Egypt

Landscape with the Flight into Egypt is rendered in oil paint on a wooden panel, measuring approximately 45.7 cm high by 58.1 cm wide. The painting belongs to the landscape genre and also functions as a religious scene, depicting the Holy Family accompanied by a man, cattle, and trees within a broad, atmospheric landscape. The medium and support are typical of mid‑seventeenth‑century Dutch panel painting, though the sources do not provide details on the artist’s handling, surface condition, or specific stylistic traits beyond its classification as a landscape.

Landscape with the Flight into Egypt was created by Aelbert Cuyp in 1650, executed in oil paint on panel. The painting's documented ownership history begins with Charles Sedelmeyer, from whose collection it later passed through the A. S. Drey dealership. It subsequently entered the holdings of Rodolphe Kann before being acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is currently held.

The sources do not record a specific commission, nor do they provide further details about the circumstances of its creation or any earlier provenance prior to Sedelmeyer.

Landscape with the Flight into Egypt by Aelbert Cuyp is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. According to provenance records, the painting was previously owned by Charles Sedelmeyer and later by Rodolphe Kann, passing through the A. S. Drey dealership before entering the museum's collection. The work is catalogued within the Met's holdings alongside its association with the Charles Sedelmeyer collection. No specific exhibition history is documented in the available sources.

Painted in 1650, Aelbert Cuyp's Landscape with the Flight into Egypt is a quintessential example of the Dutch Golden Age's pastoral tradition, distinguished by its luminous, atmospheric treatment of light. The composition centers on the biblical narrative of the Holy Family's journey to Egypt, though the figures are rendered small within a vast, expansive landscape that dominates the canvas. Cuyp employs a characteristic warm, golden hue to simulate the soft glow of late afternoon or early evening, casting long shadows and illuminating the foliage and water with a serene radiance.

A large, dark tree anchors the left foreground, framing the scene and providing a visual counterweight to the distant architectural elements, likely a church or castle perched on a hill. The painting demonstrates Cuyp's mastery in blending Italianate compositional structures with the specific topography and light of the Dutch countryside. This work reflects the artist's mature style, where religious subjects serve as a pretext for exploring the beauty of nature and the effects of natural light, securing his reputation as one of the era's most accomplished landscape painters.