Rest on the Flight into Egypt,
Painted by Luc Olivier Merson (1846-1920)
Painted in 1879,
Oil on canvas
© Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Rest on the Flight into Egypt,
Painted by Luc Olivier Merson (1846-1920)
Painted in 1879,
Oil on canvas
© Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Feast of the Holy Family
Matthew 2:13-15,19-23
After the wise men had left, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother with you, and escape into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and do away with him.’ So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod was dead. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the prophet:
'I called my son out of Egypt.'
After Herod’s death, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother with you and go back to the land of Israel, for those who wanted to kill the child are dead.’ So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, went back to the land of Israel. But when he learnt that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as ruler of Judaea he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he left for the region of Galilee. There he settled in a town called Nazareth. In this way the words spoken through the prophets were to be fulfilled:
‘He will be called a Nazarene.’
Reflection on the painting
Today’s canvas is one of my favourite paintings. We see Joseph resting, exhausted on the Egyptian sands at the feet of the sphinx. He is flanked by an open fire and the little donkey which carried them there. The saddle has been removed, to give the animal a rest too, and we see it grazing on sparse desert grass. Mary and Jesus are resting on the sphinx, with a radiant light emanating from the child Jesus. He is staring at the stars in heaven. They were fleeing from the horror of the slaughter of the innocents which we discussed yesterday.
Especially Mary’s heart-breaking, sorrowful expression is powerful. She grieves for all the women and children who could not flee, for the innocents slaughtered by the cruel king. All those lost baby lives, those grieving families. Mary’s heart grieved for them, she who bears the weight of all the sorrows of the world.
Luc Olivier Merson, the French academic 19th-century painter of this picture, beautifully captures a poignant moment: the Holy Family have just left behind the synagogues and the Temple, the Promised Land, to live in exile, trusting that some day God will deliver them and bring them back home. They are now surrounded by paganism in the form of a sphinx. Mary carries with her the Light of the World, but his time has not yet come to do his work. This is the moment where Mary and Joseph keep the light of faith alive in the pagan lands of Egypt, ready to bring Jesus back to Israel for him to start his ministry some thirty years later.
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Esta escena me hace pensar en que la Sagrada Familia tuvo que migrar por su seguridad y especialmente del Niño. Me recuerda las familias que han huido de Ucrania y por los miles y miles de gentes que diariamente buscan seguridad en otro país.
Nunca había visto una representación de la huida a Egipto así…me ha encantado, y con los comentarios de Patrick, más…
Es un poco frío..
How did they manage that journey? Practically; nappies, feeds, walking pace, finding food and water for the donkey (if they actually had one). Getting food for themselves along the way. All the blankets etc they needed to sleep on, or a tent. Quite a bit of stuff to haul. Amazing people, trusting in God every step of the way.
People were much more used to travelling this way and often journeyed very far indeed. We have forgotten the art of ancient hospitality, which was to care for the wayfaring stranger and is still a feature in Arabic and desert societies today. Traffic within the Roman Empire was well organised if not very speedy. I’m not saying it was easy, far from it, but more common than we would think.
Nous confions à la Sainte Famille toute nos familles appelée à devenir sainte. Tout particulièrement les familles déchirées et qui désespèrent de retrouver le chemin d’une terre promise.
Hmm…well, I’m glad you like it Patrick ☺️ It looks a bit like a stage set to me, even a ballet scene…but then art communicates to each of us differently.
Joseph doesn’t say much, does he, yet God always speaks to him directly….amazing really.
In fact, do we have any words of Joseph in the gospels? I can’t think of any.
Joseph never speaks Patricia, he hears and obeys, because he is full of love and care.
Yes Joseph is a real model of what a husband and father should be. I pray for his intercession for my son often, and it seems to be working. God is good.
A real model – keeping quiet lol!!
The strong and silent type?
Also isn’t the Sphinx a lot bigger than this representation?
At first I really didn’t like this painting. It seems so cold and the figures so small and remote. You have made me see it differently Patrick! Thank you.
Mary really does help to carry our sorrows.
The reading confuses me though, because I always thought Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth before they went to Bethlehem? Here Matthew seems to imply they didn’t. Maybe I need to go back and read my gospels again!
Superb! What an atmosphere. Journeying anywhere with a baby isn’t easy. Think of all the refugees.
The feast of the Holy Family today. Let us pray for all refugee families.
What a stunning painting. I love the colour of the night sky and the image of the giant Sphinx somehow welcoming and protecting the Holy Family.