Provenance
Imperial collection, Belvedere Palace, Gemäldegalerie, Vienna, by 1783;[1] Kunsthistorisches Museum, Gemäldegalerie, Vienna, c. 1891; (Frederick Mont, New York); purchased 24 September 1953 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[2] gift 1961 to NGA.
[1] The earliest mention of the painting is in Christian von Mechel, _Verzeichniss der Gemälde der Kaiserlich Königlichen Bilder Gallerie in Wien_ (Vienna, 1783), 167, no. 77. On the reverse of the panel are five paper labels: _23; II.D.u.N.II.20_ (this refers to the painting's location in the Belvedere Palace, that is, on the second floor, German and Netherlandish gallery, second room); _Aus dem Inventar des Gemäldegalerie gestrichen. Wien II Februar 1952.; Kunsthistorisches Museum in Wien / Direktion der Gemäldegalerie_ stamped, _K 1970_ in pencil; _2 St:37:/A.N.S./ N:37; Gemälde Galerie des Allerh. Kaisershauses. No. 953_, crossed out in red ink.
[2] See The Kress Collection Digital archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/2179.
Accession Number
1961.9.81
Medium
oil on panel
Dimensions
overall: 23.6 x 15 cm (9 5/16 x 5 7/8 in.) | framed: 42.2 x 33.3 x 5.7 cm (16 5/8 x 13 1/8 x 2 1/4 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Samuel H. Kress Collection
Tags
Painting Renaissance (1400–1599) Oil Painting Panel Painting
Background & Context
Background Story
The Flight into Egypt from the Follower of Joachim Patinir (c. 1550/1575) demonstrates the influence of Patinir's revolutionary landscape manner on 16th-century Netherlandish painting. Joachim Patinir (c. 1480-1524) was a Netherlandish painter known as the first Western artist to make landscape the primary subject of his paintings, using the biblical subject as a pretext for depicting vast, panoramic landscapes seen from an elevated viewpoint. This follower's version of The Flight into Egypt shows how Patinir's revolutionary landscape manner—elevated viewpoint, vast panoramic landscape, and the biblical subject as a small narrative element—was adopted by followers who disseminated his approach throughout Netherlandish painting.
Cultural Impact
The Flight into Egypt from the Follower of Patinir is important in the history of Western landscape painting because it demonstrates how Patinir's revolutionary approach to landscape was disseminated through Netherlandish painting. Patinir's invention—the panoramic landscape seen from an elevated viewpoint, with the biblical subject as a small narrative element—was one of the most important developments in the history of Western landscape painting, and follower versions like this one show how this revolutionary approach spread beyond the master's own hand.
Why It Matters
The Flight into Egypt from the Follower of Patinir shows how the first Western artist to make landscape the primary subject influenced 16th-century painting. The c. 1550/1575 painting demonstrates Patinir's revolutionary approach—elevated viewpoint, vast panoramic landscape, with the biblical subject as a small element—disseminated through the Netherlandish tradition.
