Titian, 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt', about 1512?

This small-scale painting is inspired by an event recalled in the Gospel of Matthew. The Holy Family is shown resting during the Flight into Egypt, undertaken to save the young Christ from the massacre of the newborns ordered by King Herod. Beneath a grove of trees, Joseph and Mary have found a calm place among a cluster of rocks to rest during their arduous journey. At the centre of the scene, the monumental figure of the Virgin tenderly embraces her Child. Her flowing blue cloak spreads across the ground, while the expressive folds of her red garment emphasize her dynamic posture—seated, yet turned protectively toward her naked Son, both to support and shield him.

To the left, the elderly Joseph leans wearily against the tree roots, his downcast gaze giving him a pensive expressive. Despite the painting’s modest size, the landscape plays a significant role, occupying nearly a third of the image. In the background, a fortified city crowns a hill, its circular architecture echoing features seen in other works by Titian around 1510.

Painted early in his career, The Rest on the Flight into Egypt reflects Titian’s interest in open-air scenes, reminiscent of the natural settings portrayed by his master Giovanni Bellini—such as in the Madonna of the Meadow (about 1500-1505, NG599)—and by Giorgione (The Sunset, NG6307). With a loose brushwork, Titian achieves a vibrant atmospheric effect through earthy tones and golden light. The figures stand out in their brightly coloured garments: Joseph in deep violet and bright-yellow, Mary in deep-blue and red, with a delicate white veil that anticipates the translucent drapery worn by the Magdalene in the Noli me tangere (NG270), a hallmark of Titian’s early maturity.

The subject continues Titian’s early exploration of the relationship between the human figure and the landscape. Earlier examples include The Flight into Egypt (ca. 1506–07, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg), where the figures form a frieze-like procession in the foreground, and The Holy Family with a Shepherd (NG4), painted around the same period. The latter introduces a new monumentality, with weightier figures and a more architectonic composition, reflecting influences from Central Italian artists such as Fra Bartolommeo.

Though broadly executed, the figures and landscape in this intimate composition are perfectly integrated, thanks in part to the skilful placement of a tree. This natural element organizes the composition around the Holy Family. It recalls the expressive use of a tree in the Noli me tangere, where it not only separates the Resurrected Christ from Mary Magdalene but also emphasizes her forward motion and his leaning stance.

In the Rest on the Flight into Egypt, the figures are absorbed in their thoughts, yet the tender affection between Mother and Child is vividly conveyed through their gestures. Both reach out to embrace, their arms mirroring each other’s movement in a way that would later be echoed in a woodcut by Niccolò Boldrini, where the composition is reimagined as a Venus and Cupid, possibly based on a now-lost work by Titian.

The painting was for a long time in the collection of the Marquess of Bath at Longleat House. Previously, it likely belonged to the 17th century Venetian spice merchant Bartolomeo della Nave. At his death, it was purchased by James Hamilton, 3rd Marquess and 1st Duke of Hamilton whose collection was later acquired by the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, the Habsburg governor of the Spanish Netherlands. The painting arrived in England in the mid-18th century, where it got purchased in 1878 by John Alexander Thynne, 4th Marquess of Bath.