CC0 · no rights reserved
Flight into Egypt
From the collection of Smithsonian American Art Museum. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Henry Ossawa Tanner's trip to the Middle East in 1897 probably inspired this scene of the flight into Egypt. The story of the Holy Family fleeing Herod's wrath was a favorite of Tanner's, who created as many as fifteen works on the theme. In this painting, Mary and the donkey are barely discernible, with the suggestion of a figure representing Joseph behind them. Moonlight illuminates the path for the family to follow. Tanner's own experience of racism in the United States, which motivated him to move to Paris, may have led him to identify with the persecuted Holy Family.
Smithsonian American Art Museum’s own descriptionSubjects
Credit lineFlight into Egypt. ca. 1916-1922. Henry Ossawa Tanner, born Pittsburgh, PA 1859-died Paris, France 1937. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Robbins. CC0.
