Archives of Facial Plastic SurgeryVol. 9, No. 6 BeautyFree AccessGerard David’s The Rest on the Flight into EgyptLisa Duffy-ZeballosLisa Duffy-ZeballosSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:1 Nov 2007https://doi.org/10.1001/archfaci.9.6.456AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB Permissions & CitationsPermissionsDownload CitationsTrack CitationsAdd to favorites Back To Publication ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail Gerard David (1460–ca 1523) was one of the leading painters in the city of Bruges, Belgium, which flourished as a banking center and the leading Flemish port for the international cloth trade. During the late Middle Ages, Bruges's prosperity also attracted many foreign artists eager to capitalize on the rich patronage offered by the ruling Dukes of Burgundy and by the city's wealthy merchant class. David moved to Bruges from Holland sometime before 1484, when he was cited as a master in the local painters' guild. Three years later he received an important commission from the city magistrates to paint a diptych on the Judgment of Cambyses (Groeninge Museum, Bruges) for the aldermen's chambers of the town hall. The narrative derives from Herodotus's account of the arrest and flaying of the corrupt judge Sisamnes and provides a terrible lesson for those who wield political power. However, the Judgment of Cambyses remains one of David's few civic commissions; most of his prolific output was for public religious altarpieces and small paintings for private devotion.One of these is his exquisite panel painting, The Rest on the Flight into Egypt (National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC), an imaginative devotional tableau depicting the Holy Family at rest within a distinctly Flemish landscape. Here, the young, fair-haired Virgin is seated on a rocky outcropping at the front of the picture plane and holds out a bunch of white grapes to the Christ Child seated on her lap. David repeated this figural grouping in 2 other versions of the subject (one in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York, and the other in the Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain). Each portrays the Virgin seated on a shallow rock ledge holding the Christ Child on her lap. However, the other versions present the scene as part of a continuous narrative; in the background we see Joseph guiding the Virgin and Child, who are seated on an ass, out of a dense forest. In contrast, the National Gallery's panel presents the scene as an isolated moment within the wider narrative context, focusing the viewer's meditation on the human interaction between the figures to inspire greater empathy.The theme of The Rest on the Flight into Egypt is not described in the New Testament Gospels but rather derives from medieval devotional manuals. The subject first appeared in art during the 14th century and probably coincided with the popularity of the Meditations on the Life of Christ,1 written by an anonymous Franciscan commonly known as Pseudo-Bonaventure. He instructs the reader to contemplate the practical hardships faced by the Holy Family in the Sinai Desert, noting, “How did they carry food with them? And where did they rest and spend the night?”1(p68) David's painting answers the question of the Holy Family's sustenance in the desert. Here, the Virgin holds out a cluster of grapes to the Christ Child while in the background, Joseph beats a chestnut tree with a stick.The symbol of the chestnut tree derives from the apocryphal Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, which recounted how the Virgin desired to eat the palm fruit in the desert. When Joseph was unable to reach the fruit, the Christ Child is said to have commanded the date palms to bend low to the ground for them to gather the fruit. Here, David substituted the chestnut tree, a native plant that would have been more recognizable to his contemporary audience, for the date palm. Likewise, the painting makes no reference to Christ's command and instead shows Joseph actively beating the tree to gather nuts. Most late medieval painters depicted Joseph as an old man, a comic figure whose advanced age supported Mary's prerogative of perpetual virginity. In contrast, David portrays him as a vigorous and able young man who could protect his family on the flight into Egypt.The overall theme of the painting is one of spiritual and physical nourishment. The white grapes symbolize the milk that the Infant Christ receives from His mother, who represents the vine. This reading is based on a Biblical passage from the Song of Songs in which the bridegroom declares, “I will climb the palm tree; I will take hold of its fruit: may your breasts be like clusters of the vine, may your breath be like apples” (Song of Songs 7:8). In medieval mystical theology, the bridegroom represents Christ and the bride symbolizes Mary as Ecclesia, or the personification of the Church. This interpretation is further supported by the fact that in David's other 2 versions of the flight into Egypt, the Virgin suckles the Christ Child.2Naturally, images of grapes also evoked Eucharistic interpretations of the blood of Christ, with which He nourishes the faithful through the sacrament of communion. This reference to Christ's future sacrifice may have prompted David to depict the Virgin heavily draped in blue, the traditional color of mourning. Blue is also the color of humility, and the Virgin's pose on the rocky ledge is reminiscent of traditional images of the Virgin of Humility, in which the Virgin sits on the ground. This theme is echoed in the row of plants lined up at the her feet; one of these is the blue violet, a familiar symbol of humility. Among the other plants depicted, the strawberry and plantain referred to Christ's Passion, whereas the mint and fern symbolized the dangers the Holy Family faced on their journey into Egypt.2 This botanical symbolism, although obscure today, would have been familiar to David's 15th century audience.Gerard David (1460–ca 1523). Rest on the Flight into Egypt, ca 1510. Oil on panel, 16½ × 16⅝ in. Andrew W. Mellon Collection, image courtesy of the Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.David creates the illusion of spatial depth using atmospheric perspective, which employs light and color variants to denote relative distance. The composition progresses from light brown hues in the foreground to darker greens in the treatment of the distant trees, culminating in a uniform bluish haze denoting the trees and buildings in the distant landscape beyond. The composition of the painting reflects the religious hierarchy of the figures; here, the Virgin and Child, the devotional focus of the image, are monumental figures centrally placed in the foreground. In the middle distance, we see the more anecdotal figures of the bridled ass that bore the Holy Family out of Israel, and Joseph beating the chestnut tree. Finally, in the far distance, one sees not the barren desert landscape of Egypt but a lake set within a leafy countryside. Silhouetted against the azure sky is a medieval Flemish skyline composed of tall church spires and buildings with steeply pitched roofs. Thus, the viewer is invited to enter this idyllic, yet familiar, landscape and share in the Holy Family's sacred repose.