Artwork
Landscape with the Flight into Egypt
Landscape with the Flight into Egypt is an oil painting by the Northern Renaissance artist Herri met de Bles. It dates from 1525 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1525, this oil painting by the Flemish artist Herri met de Bles—also recorded as Henri Bles or Herry de Patinir—depicts a biblical journey set within an extensive countryside. The work combines a narrative of the Flight into Egypt with a broad, atmospheric landscape that stretches from a foreground road to a distant town under a clear sky.
Subject & Meaning
The central figures are a woman on a donkey and a man walking beside her, identified as the Holy Family fleeing to Egypt. Their modest movement is surrounded by a bustling rural scene: carts, horses, pedestrians, and a resting dog. The distant settlement, with its church and houses, grounds the sacred episode in everyday life, suggesting a universal, timeless pilgrimage.
Technique & Style
The composition is organized through layered planes of rock, trees, and rolling hills, creating depth through atmospheric perspective.
Met de Bles employs a high, panoramic viewpoint typical of early Netherlandish landscape painters. The composition is organized through layered planes of rock, trees, and rolling hills, creating depth through atmospheric perspective. Fine detailing on the figures and the bustling activity contrast with the broader, almost idealized natural setting, reflecting the influence of predecessors such as Gerard David.
History & Provenance
The painting has been part of the Statens Museum for Kunst’s collection in Copenhagen. Its attribution to Herri met de Bles aligns with the artist’s known output of small-scale, narrative landscapes produced during the Northern Renaissance and early Mannerist periods.
Context
The work belongs to a genre that integrates modest biblical scenes into expansive, topographically detailed environments. This approach, popular among Flemish painters of the early 16th century, allowed artists to showcase both devotional content and their skill in rendering naturalistic scenery, reflecting contemporary interests in geography and the visual exploration of space.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Herri met de Bles, also known as Henri Bles, Herri de Dinant, Herry de Patinir,(c.
