Subject Matter
The scene is based not on any incident in the Bible itself, but on a body of tales or legends that had grown up in the early Middle Ages around the Bible story of the Holy Family fleeing into Egypt for refuge on being warned that Herod the Great was seeking to kill the Christ Child. According to the legend, Joseph and Mary paused on the flight in a grove of trees; the Holy Child ordered the trees to bend down so that Joseph could take fruit from them, and then ordered a spring of water to gush forth from the roots so that his parents could quench their thirst. This basic story acquired many extra details during the centuries.
Caravaggio shows Mary asleep with the infant Jesus, while Joseph holds a manuscript for an angel who is playing a hymn to Mary on the violin.
Read more about this topic: Rest On The Flight Into Egypt (Caravaggio)
Famous quotes containing the words subject and/or matter:
“Our being is subject to all the chances of life. There are so many things we are capable of, that we could be or do. The potentialities are so great that we never, any of us, are more than one-fourth fulfilled.”
—Katherine Anne Porter (1890–1980)
“We found it at last, an’ a little shed
Where they shut up the lamb at night.
We looked in an’ seen them huddled thar,
So warm an’ sleepy an’ white;
An’ THAR sot Little Breeches an’ chirped,
As peart as ever you see,
“I wants a chaw of terbacky,
An’ that’s what’s the matter of me.””
—John Milton Hay (1838–1905)