The Rest on the Flight into Egypt

In this print by Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi, the presence of angels and the fruit in Christ’s hand is perhaps a reference to the story that inspired this subject. On their way into Egypt, the holy family stopped to rest in the shade of a palm tree, and although Mary desired some of its fruit, Joseph declared it too high to be reached. The infant Jesus bade the tree to lower its branches so they could take its fruit, and miraculously, they were rewarded with fruit and also a spring of water. Grimaldi, a multi-faceted artist and prolific printmaker, was also a painter, set-designer, architect, and fresco painter. A landscape specialist, he worked mostly in Rome, but was trained in his native Bologna. The inscription in this plate, “Gio. Franc/co Grimaldi Bolognese,” reinforces his pride in his Bolognese roots.