Description
Rest on the Flight into Egypt is a canvas by Caravaggio, dated by Wikipedia to about 1597: fleeing Herod, the Holy Family pauses in an autumn landscape, an angel seen from behind plays the violin, old Joseph holds the music for him and Mary sleeps with the Child in her lap. The original, oil on canvas, is 135.5 cm high and 166.5 cm wide and belongs to the Galleria Doria Pamphilj in Rome. One of our painters paints it for you by hand in oils on canvas, in 8 landscape sizes from 52 x 42 to 200 x 159 cm or to a size of your own, and we show you a photograph of the finished work before it ships.
| Title: | Rest on the Flight into Egypt |
| Other titles: | Riposo durante la fuga in Egitto · Ruhe auf der Flucht nach Ägypten |
| Painter: | Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610) |
| Year painted: | c. 1597 |
| Original size: | 135.5 cm x 166.5 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Baroque, tenebrism |
| Located at: | Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome, Italy |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
Rest on the Flight into Egypt – Caravaggio
What does Rest on the Flight into Egypt show?
In the middle of the wide canvas an angel turns his back to us. He is nude except for a white cloth that winds round his hips and falls to the ground, and he has dark wings with grey feathers.
Joseph holds the music for him: a grey-haired old man with a long beard, seated at the left beside a bundle and a wicker-covered flask. He is barefoot and wrapped in a brownish-orange cloak, and behind him a donkey with a large dark eye looks out of the shadow.
On the right sits Mary in a red dress. She has lowered her head onto the Child, and both are asleep. Behind them an autumn landscape opens out, with trees, bushes and a river under a slowly darkening sky.
Where does the story of the rest come from?
The Gospel tells how the Holy Family fled into Egypt because Herod the Great wanted to kill the Child. The rest on the way, though, is not in the Bible; it comes from legends that grew up around that story in the early Middle Ages.
In one of them Joseph and Mary stopped in a grove. The Child told the trees to bend down so that Joseph could pick their fruit, then made a spring rise from the roots so that his parents could drink.
Caravaggio picks the quietest version: no miracle, just a short pause. The angel plays a hymn to Mary, and the music is real. On Joseph’s sheet is a motet by the Flemish composer Noël Bauldeweyn, set to words from the Song of Songs, Quam pulchra es, “How beautiful you are”.
What makes this one stand out among Caravaggio’s works?
It is Caravaggio’s first large-scale work and one of his very rare landscapes.
The layout is unusual too. The angel with the violin splits the canvas into two halves: on the left the wakeful old man with the music, on the right the sleeping mother with her child. According to Wikipedia, the angel’s pose closely follows the figure of Vice in Annibale Carracci’s The Choice of Hercules, finished early in 1596.
The mother and child are one of many such groups he went on to paint, and Wikipedia ranks them among the finest for delicacy and realism. Music links the canvas to The Lute Player of about 1596, where a young man plays over an open book of music. There is more in the English Wikipedia article.
Where is the original, and how did it get there?
The original is in the Galleria Doria Pamphilj in Rome, catalogued as FC 241. The canvas is 135.5 cm high and 166.5 cm wide.
Its date is disputed. Caravaggio’s contemporary Giulio Mancini wrote that he painted it while staying with Monsignor Fantino Petrignani, probably early in 1594, soon after leaving the workshop of Giuseppe Cesari. Because the angel follows Carracci’s work of 1596, however, some scholars, among them Peter Robb and Helen Langdon, think it was made for Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte.
The Pamphilj family apparently owned it by the early 17th century. The same gallery holds Penitent Magdalene, for which the same girl seems to have posed as for Mary here.
Rest on the Flight into Egypt or another Caravaggio?
Rest on the Flight into Egypt is a canvas painting for anyone who wants Caravaggio in a gentle light: no violence and no deep night, but music, sleep and autumn leaves. The landscape format stretches nicely above a sofa, a bed or a dining table.
If Mary and the Child draw you in, see also Madonna di Loreto of about 1604–1606: the barefoot Virgin stands in a doorway with her nude child in her arms while two pilgrims kneel before her. A late, quiet relative is The Adoration of the Shepherds of 1609, in which Mary lies on the straw holding the Child close as Joseph and the shepherds lean in.
Our Caravaggio page lists the other famous Caravaggio paintings you can order from us.
How does our painter work on this canvas?
We start only once you order. The painter lays a warm, dark ground, then draws in the three figures, the donkey and the branches above them with a fine brush.
Then he builds the colour layer by layer. The hardest parts are the white cloth round the angel’s hips, which has to hold the light, and the dark wings with their grey sheen. With Joseph he lingers on the furrowed brow and the hands holding the music; with Mary on the red dress and the sleeping face resting against the Child’s head.
This Caravaggio reproduction has brushwork you can feel with your fingertips, and as an oil painting reproduction it gives the autumn landscape on the right a depth no print reaches.
Which size suits your wall?
In short: 52 x 42 or 66 x 55 cm for a bedside table or a narrow strip of wall, 80 x 62 or 90 x 70 cm for a hallway, dining room or study, 110 x 90 or 140 x 111 cm above a sofa or bed, and 160 x 124 or 200 x 159 cm for a large wall.
We paint this work in 8 landscape sizes (width x height): 52 x 42, 66 x 55, 80 x 62, 90 x 70, 110 x 90, 140 x 111, 160 x 124 and 200 x 159 cm. The closest to the original is 160 x 124 cm, which is 6.5 cm narrower and 11.5 cm lower.
As a painting for the living room it works hardest at 110 x 90 or 140 x 111 cm above the sofa, with the angel at about eye level.
Can I have a different size or a frame?
Yes. If you need different proportions, we adapt the composition so that the angel stays in the centre and neither Joseph’s music nor the sleeping Mary is cut off at the edges. Tell us the size you have in mind and we will send a price and a lead time.
We send the work rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed. Our workshop in Slovenia does the stretching and framing and readies each painting for the road. In our 3D app, made only for picking the frame, you choose the moulding; showing the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
The autumn browns and oranges suit a warm gold frame, while a dark walnut frame brings out Mary’s red dress.
When will the painting arrive, and how does it travel?
We start after you confirm, and the painting is ready to ship within 15 to 45 working days. Before we pack it, we send you a photograph of the finished work and touch up anything you ask for. There are no customs charges within Slovenia and the EU, and our returns policy applies to every order.
A mother who has fallen asleep with her child makes a lovely gift for new parents, for a christening or for music lovers, since the angel plays a real piece. If you are unsure of the size, a wall art voucher lets the recipient choose.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I see the original?
In the Galleria Doria Pamphilj in Rome, whose collection includes this canvas by Caravaggio.
What music is the angel playing?
A motet by Noël Bauldeweyn on the Song of Songs text Quam pulchra es, dedicated to Mary.
Is it printed?
No. Every hand-painted copy is made with a brush, oil paints and our painter’s patience.
How big is Caravaggio’s original?
135.5 cm high and 166.5 cm wide; our nearest size is 160 x 124 cm.
Why is Mary asleep?
The scene shows a short rest on the flight; the tired mother has dozed off with the Child in her arms while the angel plays.
Is it suitable for a bedroom or nursery?
Yes, the calm scene of a sleeping mother and child suits a bedroom.
Can you paint a size that is not listed?
Of course. Give us the width and height you need and we will come back with a price and a delivery date.
How long does it take to make?
Allow 15 to 45 working days; a photo of the finished painting reaches you before dispatch.
- Subject: an angel seen from behind plays the violin, Joseph holds the music, and Mary sleeps with the Child in an autumn landscape.
- Original: c. 1597, oil on canvas, 135.5 x 166.5 cm, Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome.
- Ours: painted by hand in oils on canvas, in 8 landscape sizes from 52 x 42 to 200 x 159 cm or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: the music in Joseph’s hands is a real motet by Noël Bauldeweyn.
