Updated 26 June 2025
Currently not on display
Currently not on display
Triptych: Rest on the Flight into Egypt
| Materials and Techniques | oil on panel |
|---|---|
| Size（cm） | Center: 31 x 20; Wings: 31 x 9 (each) |
| Credit Line | Purchased |
| Category | Paintings |
| Collection Number | P.1969-0005 |
The central section of this triptych depicts the Holy Family resting upon their flight into Egypt to escape the persecution of King Herod. The two flanking panels of the triptych depict scenes from the Passion (on the left wing, Christ Debating the Church Fathers, Simon's Prophecy and Christ's Interment, and on the right, Christ Bearing the Cross, the Crucifixion and the Lamentation) and are thought to have been painted by artists other than Patinir. These seven subjects were frequently depicted in Flanders at the time as the Seven Sorrows of the Madonna, and normally flanked either a Pieta or Mater Dolorosa image. There are no other known examples of the Rest on the Flight into Egypt, as seen here, dominant over the other six subjects. In this regard, it is thought that the small round paintings on either side of the triptych were painted by someone other than Patinir. Even though technically the Flight into Egypt is a religious subject, here the painter was clearly more interested in the depiction of the landscape that spreads behind the Madonna than in the figures themselves. Patinir did not create pure landscape paintings, rather he normally produced paintings, as here, that were nominally religious in subject matter. Clearly these subjects were just excuses to paint landscapes, with the scenes that spread into the far distance the real subjects of the paintings. Thus said, however, it is possible that Patinir thought of the landscape as a stage setting surrounding a religious scene, and it thus might be a mistake to consider as separate the depiction of the landscape and the central subjects in his works.(Source: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2009, cat. no. 9)
Provenance
Goudstikker, Amsterdam, 1928; A. Kleiweg de Zwaan, Doorn (Netherlands); Frederick Mont, New York; Purchased by the NMWA, 1970.
Exhibition History
- 1978
- European Landscape Painting, Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art, Kofu, 3 November 1978 - 15 January 1979, cat. no. 2
- 1990
- Bruegel and Netherlandish Landscape Painting, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 20 March 1990 - 27 May 1990, p. 46, fig. 13, The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, 10 July 1990 - 16 September 1990
- 1997
- [Exhibition for Children] Every Picture Tells a Story, Tokyo National Museum, 1 July 1997 - 31 August 1997
- 2016
- Sacred and Secular: Israhel van Meckenem & Early German Engraving, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 9 July 2016 - 19 September 2016
Bibliography
- 1924
- Friedländer, Max J. Die altniederländische Malerei. vol. 9, Leiden, 1934, p. 156, no. 218a.
- 1968
- Koch, Robert A. Joachim Patinir. Princeton, 1968, pp. 74-75, cat. no. 8.
- 1971
- Annual bulletin of the National Museum of Western Art. No. 4 (1969), 1971, Yamada, Chisaburoh F. [On the New Acquisitions]. pp. 3-4. Catalogue of the New Acquisitions. pp. 14-15. no. P-379. col. repr. p. 2.
- 1971
- Les cent chefs-d'œuvre du Musée National d'Art Occidental. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1971 (Japanese), no. 61, repr.
- 1973
- Friedländer, Max J. Early Netherlandish Painting. vol. 9/b, Leiden/Brussel, 1973, p. 121, no. 199, pl. 208.
- 1975
- Les cent chefs-d'œuvre du Musée National d'Art Occidental. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1975 (Japanese), no. 9, repr.
- 1978
- Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1978 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 8, repr.
- 1979
- The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo: Catalogue of paintings. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1979, no. 209, repr.
- 1989
- Kobayashi-Sato, Yoriko. Catalogue of Dutch and Flemish Paintings in Japan I. Annual Report Bridgestone Museum of Art & Ishibashi Museum of Art. no. 37 (1988), 1989, p. 48, no. 24, repr.
- 1990
- Bruegel and Netherlandish Landscape Painting from the National Gallery Prague (exh. cat.). The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, ed. [Tokyo], Asahi- Shimbun, 1990, p. 46,cat. no. 13, repr.
- 2006
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2006 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 9, col. repr.
- 2009
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2009, no. 9, col. repr.
- 2013
- Masterpieces: The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2013 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 9, col. repr.
- 2018
- Kofuku, Akira. Catalogue of Dutch and Flemish Paintings, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. [Tokyo], The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo; The Western Art Foundation, 2018, pp. 38-41, no. 7, col. repr.