Rust op de vlucht naar Egypte 1649

Michel Dorigny created this print, "Rest on the Flight into Egypt" in 1649. We see an intimate family scene. The composition divides neatly into thirds, with a resting Joseph on the left, Mary and the Christ child in the centre, and a classical ruin to the right. This, coupled with the figures arranged parallel to the picture plane, creates a sense of balance. Dorigny's image builds upon a classical aesthetic, yet it also deviates from it. The classical ruin is overgrown, and nature appears to encroach upon the scene, creating a sense of flux. The figures display a softness, contrasting with the geometric stability of classical architecture. The use of chiaroscuro helps to model the forms, while a delicate web of lines describes the textures of the flora and drapery. What is most striking here is how Dorigny destabilizes traditional oppositions through form. The serene classical world is juxtaposed with a more immediate and visceral portrayal of human figures. These competing elements, the rational and the sensual, merge to produce a new symbolic order. The work suggests a tension between the eternal and the temporal, the divine and the human.