A remarkable travel story
In the 15th century, landscapes in Early Netherlandish painting still served mainly as backdrops for religious scenes. But from 1500 onward, landscapes began to take center stage. Sacred narratives became pretexts to depict nature itself. In the Low Countries, Joachim Patinir—painter of this landscape—was the first true landscape artist. Both Albrecht Dürer, in his journal of his travels through the Netherlands, and Karel van Mander in his Schilder-Boeck, refer to him as a painter of beautiful and pure landscapes.
Playing with Time and Space
In this painting, slightly larger than a horizontal A5 sheet, Patinir invites us to admire the vastness and variety of God’s creation and to let our eyes wander through countless details. Animals, houses, people, daily activities—all painted with the finest brush and a magnifying glass—are hidden throughout the landscape. The panel illustrates the biblical story of the Flight into Egypt. Shortly after the visit of the three Magi, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said: “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” (Matthew 2:13)
In the foreground, at eye level, we see the Holy Family climbing a steep hill, hastening toward safety. Like a comic strip, the painting compresses time and space: in the middle ground, the Massacre of the Innocents unfolds. Herod’s soldiers mercilessly slay every boy under the age of two. Mothers beg for mercy in desperation. Thus far the biblical account.
Joachim Patinir (1516–1517) – Landscape with the Flight into Egypt - Detail The Holy Family
Joachim Patinir (1516–1517) – Landscape with the Flight into Egypt - Detail The murder of the innocent children
But Patinir also draws on apocryphal sources—texts not officially recognized by the Church—and popular legend.
To the left of the massacre, for instance, soldiers question a farmer. Truthfully, the man says the Holy Family passed by while he was sowing. That must have been a while ago, one would think. But miraculously, the crops have ripened golden overnight, misleading the soldiers into turning back.
Mars Toppled from His Pedestal
Blink and you’ll miss another wonder. According to legend, the flight ends with the Holy Family’s arrival in Heliopolis, where Jesus’s divine power first manifests. “When the Lord entered Egypt, all the idols fell,” wrote Jacobus de Voragine in the Golden Legend. Patinir shows, in the top left corner on a jagged rock, a golden statue of the Roman god of war, Mars. As Jesus passes by, the idol crashes from its pedestal.
A five-hundred-year-old painting full of delight and discovery—with a wondrous journey at its heart.
ZAAL Z
This article previously appeared in ZAAL Z, the museum's magazine. For as little as 35 euros you will receive four editions that will immerse you in the fascinating world of the museum and its magnificent collection.
