Flight into Egypt

Panel from the altarpiece of the chancel of Viseu Cathedral (1501-1506) alluding to the theme of the Flight into Egypt.
Succinctly recounted in the Gospel of St. Matthew, the scene in question always involves three essential characters: the Child Jesus, the Virgin and St. Joseph. But its visual and artistic representation, often inspired by the picturesque inventions of the apocryphal texts, was to be enriched with other figures and accessory themes. In this case, the painter opted for the representation of an angel, who guides the fugitives, while St. Joseph, during a break in their journey, picks fruits from a tree. Besides these variants, there is also the presence, in the background landscape, of the theme of the Miracle of the Wheatfield. According to the Apocryphal Gospels, the Virgin had recommended to a peasant that, if he was to be questioned by Herod's soldiers, he should say that he had seen the Holy Family departing at the time when the wheat was being sown. Miraculously, the wheat immediately began to grow and was soon ready for harvest. So, thinking that the fugitives were already far away from that place, the soldiers gave up their pursuit.
At the centre of a rigorously triangular composition, and enveloped in a uniform light, are the Virgin and the sleeping Child. Contrasting with the serenity of this representation is the intense luminosity of the angel who, with a wrinkled face and holding the rope of the donkey and the palm of martyrdom, seems to symbolise and anticipate the Passion of Christ. This dramatic and intense light, which individualises the figures and emphasises their symbolic value, creates a special atmosphere of great sensitivity. Its effect on the folds of the angel's long robe, quite different from the pleated garments of the Virgin and St. Joseph, indicates a remarkable technique on the part of the artist, which is also evident in the superb light that envelops the distant landscape.
As in the rest of the panels of the series, a detailed description characterises the representation of the theme: the staff with a purse and hat among highly realistic plant species; the hoofprints of the donkey in the ground; the basket with pears or the miniaturist technique used in the representation of the leaves of the trees (two of which are symbolically intertwined in the background).