Who painted Rest on the Flight into Egypt?

Rest on the Flight into Egypt was painted by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo in 1665-01-01.

Where can I see Rest on the Flight into Egypt?

Rest on the Flight into Egypt is held by Hermitage Museum.

What movement is Rest on the Flight into Egypt?

Rest on the Flight into Egypt is associated with Baroque.

Rest on the Flight into Egypt by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1665)

About this work

Subject & Meaning

Mary cradles the sleeping Christ Child, who lies on a raised rock, while Joseph attends to provisions and an ass stands nearby.

The painting depicts the Holy Family, Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus, resting during their flight into Egypt, a moment derived from the Gospel of Matthew and apocryphal texts. Mary cradles the sleeping Christ Child, who lies on a raised rock, while Joseph attends to provisions and an ass stands nearby. Two small angels observe the scene, adding a tender, almost playful note to the composition.

Murillo’s rendering emphasizes quiet domesticity rather than dramatic tension, portraying the refugees in a moment of respite. Everyday objects, a clay water vessel, cloth bags, a straw hat, and a bundle of goods, anchor the scene in lived reality, transforming a biblical episode into an intimate, humanized encounter. The stillness of the sleeping child and the gentle light underscore themes of divine protection and familial care amid peril.

Technique & Style

Executed circa 1665, this work is an oil painting on canvas measuring 136.5 by 179.5 cm. A major restoration in 1967 revealed previous repairs to tears in the support and allowed for radiographic analysis, which showed the artist altered the position of the Virgin Mary's left wrist and finger gestures during the creative process.

Stylistically, the composition presents a familiar, almost festive atmosphere devoid of drama, characterized by specific lighting effects. The scene includes a small still-life arrangement beneath the sleeping Christ Child, featuring travel provisions such as a leather-covered earthenware jug, cloth saddlebags, a straw hat, and a bundle. Unlike other versions of this subject by the artist that depict a pilgrim's gourd, this iteration utilizes a handle-less jug, contributing to the intimate and domestic interpretation of the divine figures.

History & Provenance

Rest on the Flight into Egypt is a 1665 oil on canvas painting by Spanish Baroque artist Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. The work entered the Hermitage Museum collection in 1769 after being purchased from the Parisian sale of Jean-Louis Gaignat's collection, which had been acquired by Catherine II of Russia. Murillo is documented to have created at least two versions of the subject, one in the Hermitage and another owned by the Strafford family at Wrotham Park, England; the Hermitage version features a distinctive earthenware vessel without handles that holds water beneath the sleeping Christ child, surrounded by travel provisions such as a straw hat and bundle.

Radiographic study in 1967 revealed compositional revisions to the left hand of the Virgin Mary, and the painting has been displayed in the New Hermitage building, room 239, since the 1840s.

The painting is held in the State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia, where it entered the collection in 1769 from the Paris collection of Jean-Louis Gaignat following his 1768 sale. It is inventoried as Hermitage inv. ГЭ-631.

The work has been on continuous display in the museum’s New Hermitage building (Gallery 239) since the 1840s. It underwent significant restoration in 1967, when radiography revealed pentimenti including a repositioned left wrist and modified hand gesture of the Virgin, and old repaired tears were addressed.

Context

Murillo’s Rest on the Flight into Egypt (c.1665) exemplifies the artist’s mature Baroque style and his distinctive approach to sacred subjects by domesticating the divine. Art historians note the painting’s shift from dramatic tension to an almost festive intimacy, emphasizing the Holy Family’s quiet repose rather than peril, a trait Diego Angulo Íñiguez identifies as characteristic of Murillo’s personal iconography. The work’s restrained palette and tender figuration align with mid-seventeenth-century Seville’s cultural climate, where Murillo’s workshop produced devotional images for private and ecclesiastical patrons amid Counter-Reformation piety.

The painting entered the Hermitage in 1769 after purchase from the Gaignat collection in Paris, a moment that marked its integration into imperial Russian collecting under Catherine II. Its later conservation in 1967 revealed pentimenti in the Virgin’s left hand and finger gestures, offering technical insight into Murillo’s process.

Overview

Executed around 1665, this oil on canvas by the Spanish painter Bartolomé Esteban Murillo portrays a tranquil moment during the biblical Flight into Egypt. The composition centers on the Virgin, Saint Joseph, and the infant Jesus as they pause, while two cherubic figures hover nearby, lending a gentle, protective atmosphere.

Rest on the Flight to Egypt, Anthony van Dyck

Artist & collection

Artist

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo ( mure-IL-oh, m(y)uu-REE-oh, Spanish:; late December 1617, baptised 1 January 1618 – 3 April 1682) was a Spanish Baroque painter.