The Resting of the Holy Family in a Garland of Flowers

This small, oil on copper image of piety is a repetition of one of the motifs invented by Jan Brueghel I, called Of Velvet, around 1608.
The central scene represents the resting of the Holy Family during their flight to Egypt.
This is the moment when, according to the evangelist Matthew, an angel of the Lord appears before Joseph in a dream and orders him to flee to Egypt with the Baby Jesus and the Virgin Mary because Herod is in pursuit of them.
At Mary's feet the little Saint John the Baptist hails the birth of Jesus, accompanied by the lamb, the symbolic Christian attribute, which heralds the sacrifice of the Savior.
The wreath, consisting of 50 varieties of flowers associated with fruits and insects, brings a sense of metaphor. The rose and it's perfume, (virtue), the narcissus as a reminder that you should overlook beauty, which is dangerous for the soul, the tulip, which stands for many virtues, the carnation, which condemns the musk of the body.
The fruits refer to the strawberry as the food of Paradise and the currants ripen like Saint John.
Based on the texts of Sandrine Le Bideau in the catalog Flemish and Dutch paintings—Collection of the Châteauroux museums (Peintures Flamande et Hollandaise—Collection des Musées de Châteauroux) Somogy-Editions d'Art.