Pieter Lastman, 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt', 1620

In this vibrant painting the Holy Family is resting on their flight to Egypt, a story from the Christian Bible. Matthew’s Gospel (2:13–23) tells us that Joseph was warned in a dream to flee with his wife Mary and son Jesus to escape King Herod’s threat to kill their baby. The Gospel does not describe the journey itself. Pieter Lastman imagined a tender moment between Joseph, Mary and Jesus as they shelter in a lush, rocky landscape.

Mary sits at the centre, wrapped in a rich blue cloak over a pink dress. Her white head covering frames her young face as she looks down with love and worry at her son. The infant gazes directly at us with an unusually wise, alert expression. This maturity, along with the golden glow around his head (a halo), shows him as the divine Son of God and foretells his tragic death.

Joseph leans towards them from the left. His weathered face and full beard indicate his role as protector and guide. He wears a blue tunic with a flowing orange-red cloak across his shoulder. Although not Jesus’s birth father, Joseph serves as his earthly guardian. He offers an apple to the infant, a powerful symbol in Christian religion. The apple links to the Garden of Eden story, in which God forbade Adam and Eve to eat. Tempted by the devil, Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. This led to their exile from Eden and loss of immortality. Christians see Jesus as the ‘New Adam’ and Mary the ‘New Eve’. Paul the Apostle taught that while Adam’s sin brought death to humanity, Christ’s obedience to God brought salvation and rebirth in heaven.

The family rests among rocks and beneath trees, with a small waterfall on the left side. This natural setting hints at the harsh wilderness journey they face. While the Apocrypha (the non-canonical Christian writings) tell various stories about their travels, this scene does not match any specific account. Instead, it presents the artist’s vision of such a moment. The landscape opens to show distant hills under a cloudy sky. This reminds viewers of both the danger they flee and their far-off destination. The waterfall suggests God’s gift of refreshment during their hard journey. A straw hat lies on the ground with a walking stick, a shoulder bag and a water bottle. These objects allude to the real and spiritual ‘pilgrimage of life’ that Christian believers undertake in their connection with God. The thistle growing in the right corner refers to Christ’s future suffering and the crown of thorns he will wear before his crucifixion.

Lastman employed colour and light cleverly. He used chiaroscuro, a method creating strong contrasts between light and shadow. Mary’s blue cloak stands out against the earthy background. Lastman has painted the textures with great care, from smooth baby skin to rough tree bark and silky cloth. In the bottom right corner, the artist signed and dated his work ‘P Lastman 1620’.