The Flight into Egypt

The Flight into Egypt by Cosimo Tura was created in 1474, as established by documentary evidence and stylistic analysis [,]. Executed in tempera on panel, the work was originally commissioned for an unknown religious context, likely a private chapel or ecclesiastical institution, given its devotional subject matter. The painting’s earliest recorded ownership is associated with Jules Bache, a prominent American collector, before entering the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it remains []. No intermediary owners between its creation and Bache’s acquisition have been definitively documented.

The Flight into Egypt (1474) by Cosimo Tura is a tempera panel painting that belongs to the religious genre and exemplifies early Renaissance narrative strategies. The work depicts the biblical episode with Mary, Joseph, Jesus, a man, a donkey, and is catalogued as a representation of the Flight into Egypt. It entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and was owned by collector Jules Bache, underscoring its provenance within private collections of the period.

As an early work by Tura, the painting reflects the stylistic transition from late Gothic to emerging naturalistic detail in Italian art of the late 15th century. Scholars note its significance as a documented example of narrative religious imagery in the artist’s oeuvre.

This tempera painting depicts the biblical narrative of the Flight into Egypt. It shows Mary, dressed in blue, seated on a donkey with the infant Jesus, while Joseph, in red, walks alongside them. The figures are set against a rocky, natural landscape with a distant structure. The artwork captures a moment of flight and refuge, rendered with careful attention to detail.