The Flight into Egypt (detail)

religious

The picture shows a detail of the Flight into Egypt on the right wing of the Dijon Altarpiece. St Joseph is leading the donkey by the halter, while he pours drink into his mouth from a small keg. He carries a stick over his left shoulder, from which his coat and a small pot with a ladle have been hung.

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About the Artist

Melchior Broederlam

Netherlandish painter, court painter to Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, from 1387. Documents show that he was a busy and versatile artist, but his only surviving works are two wings from an altarpiece representing The Annunciation and Visitation and The Presentation and Flight into Egypt (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon, 1394-9). They are among the first and finest examples of International Gothic, combining lavish decorative display with realistic touches that look forward to the later development of the Netherlandish School. The figure of St Joseph in The Flight into Egypt, for example, is represented as an authentic peasant.

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