Spanish school; end of the XVII century.

Spanish school; late 17th century.
"The Return of the Holy Family from Egypt".
Oil on canvas. Relined from the 19th century.
It has a frame from c. 1850.
Measurements: 106 x 81 cm; 119 x 94 cm (frame).
This oil on canvas represents a version of the theme of the Return of the Holy Family from Egypt, an iconography that evokes the return of Mary, Joseph and the Child Jesus after their flight, following the story of the Gospel of Matthew. The work follows the model of the painting that was originally commissioned to the master Rubens, by the then mayor of Antwerp, Nicolaas II Rockox, patron of the arts and prominent figure in the cultural and religious life of the city. The commission was part of the iconographic program for the altar of St. Joseph in the Jesuit Church of Antwerp, now known as the Church of St. Charles Borromeo.
This painting, although faithfully based on the original composition by Rubens, presents some variants that allow its identification as a later interpretation. One of the most notable is the presence of a lemon that the Child holds in his hand, an element absent in Rubens' autograph work.
The composition was widely disseminated thanks to the work of the engraver Schelte à Bolswert (1586-1659), who produced a print of great quality that captures with remarkable precision the details and dynamism of the original work. Thanks to this reproduction, the iconography and compositional structure of the painting were preserved and widely circulated, allowing its influence on later versions such as the one described here.
Peter Paul Rubens was a painter of the Flemish school who, however, competed on equal terms with contemporary Italian artists, and enjoyed a very important international transcendence, since his influence was also key in other schools, as in the case of the transition to the full Baroque in Spain. Although born in Westphalia, Rubens grew up in Antwerp, where his family originated. His mother, Maria Pypelincks, was a very important character in his life. She gave him a courtly and cultural education, which included the study of Latin and Greek, as well as the Bible. It was in fact his mother who put him in contact, while still very young, with the best painters of the time. Rubens had three teachers, the first of whom was Tobias Verhaecht, a painter of precise and meticulous technique who had traveled to Italy, and who instilled in the young painter the first artistic rudiments. It is also possible that Rubens traveled to Italy influenced by this first master. The second was Adam van Noort, a Romanist painter also oriented towards the Italian influence, with a language still Mannerist, and who must also have influenced the young man to visit Italy. Finally, his third teacher was Otto van Veen, the most outstanding and the last of them. After his training, Rubens joined the Antwerp painters' guild in 1598. Only two years later he made a trip to Italy, where he stayed between 1600 and 1608.