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The Cleveland Museum of Art
The Return of the Holy Family to Nazareth
Description
When King Herod learned that he would lose his throne to a child born in Bethlehem, he ordered all male infants to be massacred. Mary and Joseph thus fled to Egypt to protect their son, Jesus. The age of the boy in this painting suggests that Poussin depicted the less-common subject of the Holy Family’s return from Egypt. Jesus reaches toward a vision of a cross borne by angels, a reference to both his eventual crucifixion and Herod’s cruel slaughter of innocent children.
Provenance
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio; (Rosenberg and Stiebel, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art); Frederick Mont and Newhouse Galleries, New York, NY, sold to Rosenberg and Stiebel)1; Princes of Liechtenstein, Vienna, and later, Vaduz1
Dimensions
134 × 99 cm
Movement / Period
Accession No
1953.156
Official Citations
Curatorial Affinity Stream
Continuing the Universe of Nicolas Poussin (French, 1594–1665)
European Painting and Sculpture • France • Harmonious Works & Contemporaries
Continuous Discovery