Artwork
Landscape with the Rest on the Flight into Egypt
Landscape with the Rest on the Flight into Egypt is an oil painting by the Mannerist artist Master of the Female Half-Lengths. It dates from 1550 and is held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on the theological theme of divine protection and respite, situating the sacred figures within a naturalistic environment.
This oil painting on oak panel depicts the Rest on the Flight into Egypt, a specific episode from the New Testament apocrypha where the Holy Family pauses during their journey. Executed in 1550 by the Master of the Female Half-Lengths, the work functions as both a religious narrative and a landscape study. The composition centers on the theological theme of divine protection and respite, situating the sacred figures within a naturalistic environment.
By combining the genre of landscape painting with religious subject matter, the artist emphasizes the harmony between the spiritual event and the earthly setting, a common approach in sixteenth-century Northern European art.
Technique & Style
Created in 1550, Landscape with the Rest on the Flight into Egypt is an oil painting executed on an oak panel support. The work measures 38.7 cm in height and 51.7 cm in width. As a creation by the Master of the Female Half-Lengths, the piece combines landscape and religious art genres, depicting the biblical Rest on the Flight into Egypt within a natural setting.
The medium of oil paint applied to wood panel was a standard technique for Northern Renaissance panel paintings of this period.
Overview
Created around the middle of the sixteenth century, this oil painting by the anonymous Master of the Female Half‑Lengths portrays a quiet moment during the biblical Flight into Egypt. The composition centers on a seated Virgin and child, set within a gently rolling countryside that stretches toward a distant village. The work is part of the collection of Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum.
History & Provenance
Attributed to the Master of the Female Half‑Lengths, an anonymous painter active in the mid‑1500s, the work entered the Kunsthistorisches Museum’s holdings in the early twentieth century. Its provenance prior to museum acquisition remains undocumented, reflecting the limited archival record typical for works by this elusive artist.
Artist & collection
Artist
Master of the Female Half-Lengths
The Master of the Female Half-Lengths is a notname coined by the German art historian Max J.
