Beyond the Mountain You Will Find a Valley: A Study of the Flight into Egypt in the Art of the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance

Abstract

The author takes a particular work of art that depicts the Flight of the Holy Family into Egypt, and uses it as a starting point to explore the history of the theme in European art from the 5th to the 16th century. He explores the often very complicated relationships between visual and literary traditions, and on this bases and within this context he proceeds to analyze various depictions of the Flight into Egypt, to interpret their particular iconographic features and to throw light on the motives of their commissioners.