The Flight into Egypt; the Holy Family walking together, Saint Joseph pointing to the left and the Virgin carrying the infant Christ, an angel in front of her offering a flower, after Reni

Print • Prints

Created in 1681 during the Baroque period, this work belongs firmly within the power & politics tradition. Francois de Poilly worked at a moment when the rivalry between Catholic Baroque drama and Protestant restraint reshaped what a painting could mean. Every gesture, fabric, and gleam of light was decoded by contemporary viewers like a private language.

The physical object — Engraving, Sheet (Trimmed): 17 1/2 × 12 7/16 in. (44.4 × 31.6 cm) — carries its own history of handling and restoration. Francois de Poilly's brushwork here moves between exacting description and looser, more suggestive passages, a balance typical of Baroque studio practice.

Look closely and the painting opens up. Objects you might pass over — a folded letter, a half-drawn curtain, the angle of a glance — were placed to be read. Crowns, columns, and heraldry quietly insist on legitimacy — this is a painting working hard on behalf of a patron.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York now holds the work, where conservators and historians continue to revisit its condition and attribution. Each generation of scholarship adds a layer to how Francois de Poilly's output from this period is understood.

“A silence so complete it becomes its own witness.”