1513
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
The Flight into Egypt is a 1513 ink by Albrecht Altdorfer, a Renaissance work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This black-and-white print shows a chaotic scene of people and animals fleeing a city. The sky is filled with puffy clouds, and the landscape is rough with jagged hills. Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus are mixed in with a crowd pushing forward, while a castle burns in the background. Notice how the artist packed so much detail into the lines—every face, tree, and building is just etched in. This isn’t a painting; it’s a woodcut, where the image is carved into wood and printed. Next, look up woodcut to see how this old printmaking method worked.
Albrecht Altdorfer (c. 1480 – 12 February 1538) was a German painter, engraver and architect of the Renaissance working in Regensburg. Along with Lucas Cranach the Elder and Wolf Huber he is regarded to be the main…
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