Who painted Rest on the Flight into Egypt with St Justine?

Rest on the Flight into Egypt with St Justine was painted by Lorenzo Lotto in 1529.

Where can I see Rest on the Flight into Egypt with St Justine?

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

What movement is Rest on the Flight into Egypt with St Justine?

Rest on the Flight into Egypt with St Justine is associated with Mannerism.

Rest on the Flight into Egypt with St Justine by Lorenzo Lotto (1529)

About this work

Subject & Meaning

The work blends sacred narrative with intimate domestic stillness, emphasizing divine shelter amid exile.

The painting depicts the Holy Family pausing during their flight from Herod, accompanied by Saint Justina of Padua, a composition rooted in the Gospel narrative of the Flight into Egypt. Saint Justina, a martyr of the 4th century associated with Padua, is included here as a protective intercessor, reflecting her cult's prominence in Venetian devotional practice. The work blends sacred narrative with intimate domestic stillness, emphasizing divine shelter amid exile.

Symbolically, the encounter underscores themes of protection, pilgrimage, and the vulnerability of the Christ child, while Justina's presence highlights local Venetian hagiography within a broader Christian story.

Lotto renders the scene with tenderness, focusing on the physical and emotional weight of rest during a perilous journey, transforming a moment of flight into one of contemplative sanctuary.

Technique & Style

The work is a painting executed in oil paint on a canvas support. According to the Hermitage catalogue, the canvas measures 82 cm in height and 133 cm in width. The medium is oil paint, as indicated in both the artwork’s title data and the museum’s material description.

No further information regarding the artist’s brushwork, surface condition, or stylistic handling is supplied in the sources. Thus the technical basis of the work is limited to its oil-on-canvas construction.

History & Provenance

Lorenzo Lotto executed the oil painting Rest on the Flight into Egypt with St Justine in 1529. Created on canvas, the work depicts the biblical Flight into Egypt alongside Saint Justina of Padua. The painting currently resides in the collection of the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, where it is cataloged under the inventory number ГЭ-2204.

No specific details regarding the original commissioner or the intermediate ownership history prior to its arrival at the Hermitage are provided in the available records.

Context

Lorenzo Lotto's 1529 work Rest on the Flight into Egypt with St Justine, housed in the Hermitage Museum, reflects the Venetian school's emphasis on narrative depth and emotive realism. Scholarship highlights its intricate composition and the artist's synthesis of High Renaissance ideals with emerging Mannerist tendencies, situating it within broader discussions of devotional imagery in early sixteenth-century Italy.

The painting's depiction of the Flight into Egypt alongside Saint Justina underscores its function as a devotional piece, aligning with Counter-Reformation sensibilities that favored accessible sacred stories. Comparative analyses note its stylistic affinities with contemporaries like Giovanni Bellini while emphasizing Lotto's individuality in rendering human interaction and spatial complexity.

Overview

Created in 1529 by Lorenzo Lotto, this oil on canvas portrays a moment from the biblical Flight into Egypt, accompanied by Saint Justina of Padua. The composition gathers four figures beneath a leafy canopy, set against a tranquil landscape of water and hills. The work belongs to the collection of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.

Artist & collection

Artist

Lorenzo Lotto

Lorenzo Lotto (c. 1480 – 1556/57) was an Italian Renaissance painter, draughtsman, and illustrator, traditionally placed in the Venetian school, though much of his career was spent in other north Italian cities. He…