The Flight into Egypt
Artist: Workshop of Goossen Van Der Weyden (Belgian, c. 1465 - after 1538)
Original Dimensions: 31 5/8" x 27 1/2"
Location: National Gallery of Art, London
About Artwork: (About 1516) "All seems calm in the foreground of this picture – Saint Joseph leads a placid (and delightfully hairy) donkey on which the Virgin Mary sits feeding the Christ Child. But look closer and the atmosphere changes. This is a family fleeing a massacre: the Massacre of the Innocents. When King Herod learnt of the birth of a future King of the Jews, he sent his men to kill all infant boys in and around Bethlehem. In the distance bands of armed men are coming out of the gates of a city. The leading group has already reached a hamlet and started on their terrible task. A house is on fire; in the streets women scream in horror over small corpses or try to snatch their children away from the soldiers. This panel was possibly once part of a huge altarpiece, perhaps painted for export to Spain or Portugal, with a large central image surrounded by smaller scenes of the life of Christ." - (National Gallery of Art, London)

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