Jan de Beer: The Flight into Egypt

Jan de Beer (1475-1528) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and glass designer active in Antwerp at the beginning of the 16th century. He is considered one of the most important members of the loose group of painters active in and around Antwerp in the early 16th century referred to as the Antwerp Mannerists. Highly respected in his time, he operated a large workshop with an important output of religious compositions.

The Flight into Egypt became an increasingly popular subject in Netherlandish art in the early-sixteenth century, thanks in part to the growing importance of the Devotio Moderna movement, which advocated stronger spiritual engagement through heightened identification with the suffering of Christ. The original source for the narrative of the Flight is the Gospel of Matthew (2:13-14), which describes an angel appearing to Joseph in a dream and warning him to flee with his family to Egypt so that Christ might not fall victim to Herod’s soldiers, who were ordered to kill all first-born sons.

the above text appears on the back of the card
HC-1374: card size 7" x 5" (178mm x 127mm)