Rest on the Flight into Egypt

Rest on the Flight into Egypt

Anthony van Dyck

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This print reproduces a painting by Van Dyck that shows the Holy Family resting during their journey to Egypt. Mary holds the infant Jesus with Joseph next to her and they are entertained by putti who dance and play musical instruments. Van Dyck painted several variations of this subject, and the one closest to this print is now at the Pitti Palace, Florence. The version the belonged to Sir Robert Walpole, hung at Houghton, was bought by Catherine the Great in 1779 and is now at the Hermitage, is titled "Madonna with Partridges." Instead of putti in the sky, two birds fly over the dancing putti and sunflowers grow behind the Virgin.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.