Artwork
The Flight, Holy Family Walking with Angel
The Flight, Holy Family Walking with Angel is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo. It dates from 1753 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo’s 1753 print, titled *The Flight, Holy Family Walking with Angel*, presents a nocturnal landscape in which a family and a celestial messenger traverse a rugged terrain. Executed as an etching, the composition is rendered in monochrome, emphasizing line and contrast over color.
Subject & Meaning
The scene illustrates the biblical Flight into Egypt, with the Virgin Mary cradling the infant Jesus, Joseph following, and an angel hovering overhead. The angel’s forward‑leaning posture and the family’s cautious steps convey both divine protection and the peril of their journey.
Technique & Style
Tiepolo combined traditional etching with drypoint, scratching fine, jagged lines directly into the copper plate to achieve a tactile, almost sculptural texture on the rocks and clouds. The resulting marks give the sky a swirling, atmospheric quality, while the figures retain a delicate, linear clarity characteristic of his printmaking practice.
History & Provenance
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, son of the renowned Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and brother of Lorenzo Baldissera, worked extensively in both painting and print.
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, son of the renowned Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and brother of Lorenzo Baldissera, worked extensively in both painting and print. This 1753 etching belongs to his mature period, reflecting the family’s continued engagement with religious subjects for a European market. Its early ownership records are sparse, but it has appeared in several 19th‑century catalogues of Italian prints.
Artist & collection
Artist
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (August 30, 1727 – March 3, 1804) was an Italian painter and printmaker in etching. He was the son of artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and elder brother of Lorenzo Baldissera Tiepolo.
The Rest on the Flight, with Holy Family under a Tree
The Flight with Joseph in the Foreground
The Rest on the Flight, with Adoring Angels
The Holy Family Disembarking
The Flight with Joseph in the Foreground
The Flight, with Madonna at Right Supported by Angels
The Rest on the Flight, with Adoring Angels