Giambattista TIEPOLO (Venice 1696-1770)
The Flight into Egypt
Pen and brown ink, brown wash
42 x 28.5 cm
Provenance:
Auction from the Pierre Alexis Orloff Collection, Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, April 29-30, 1920, No. 89, repr.
Circa 1735 Giambattista Tiepolo produced a set of drawings on the theme of the Flight into Egypt. These six drawings belonged to Prince Alexis Orloff before being dispersed in Paris in 1920. These pen and ink drawings constitute a true synoptic framework. These scenes are original because they show a moment very rarely represented in the journey of the Holy Family. The action takes place shortly before the embarkation on a frail skiff, a moment that is itself the subject of a painting done at the end of the artist's life (The Flight into Egypt, Lisbon, Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga; The Flight into Egypt (engraving), Paris, Petit Palais). Our drawing is to be associated with the Rest during the Flight into Egypt (Stuttgart, Staatsgalerie), which can be considered in the narrative as preceding our drawing where Joseph seems to be pulling the boat to himself. It is especially to be compared with the drawing of the series in which Tiepolo chose to represent the donkey to the detriment of Joseph's action, which is less understandable. (See: G. Knox, The Orloff Album of Tiepolo Drawings, Burlington Magazine, CLLL, n699, June 1961, pp.269-275).
