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The Flight into Egypt, from the Life of the Virgin

A work made of woodcut in black on ivory laid paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of woodcut in black on ivory laid paper.

Date:

c. 1504–05, published 1511

Artist:

Albrecht Dürer
German, 1471-1528

About this artwork

Early in his career Albrecht Dürer set out to meet Martin Schongauer but arrived after the famous printmaker’s death. This woodcut from The Life of the Virgin, one of Dürer’s three major illustrated books along with The Passion and The Apocalypse, represents an homage to Schongauer. Compared to Schongauer’s print of the scene, Dürer’s image shares an interest in a variety of exotic vegetation (palms) and desert creatures (lizards) and by suggesting the arid nature of the landscape, visually reinforces how far the family had to travel to escape the persecution of Herod’s Massacre of the Innocents.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Albrecht Dürer

Title

The Flight into Egypt, from the Life of the Virgin

Place

Germany (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1504–1505

Medium

Woodcut in black on ivory laid paper

Dimensions

Image: 30.1 × 21 cm (11 7/8 × 8 5/16 in.); Sheet: 45.2 × 30.8 cm (17 13/16 × 12 3/16 in.)

Credit Line

Clarence Buckingham Collection

Reference Number

1919.2604

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/77895/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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