Flight into Egypt (recto); Figures from the Passion (verso)

Attributed to Hans Rottenhammer, I (German, 1564 - 1625)

Dateca. 1590 - 1610

MediumInk and wash

DimensionsOverall: 7 1/8 × 5 1/2 inches (18.1 × 14.05 cm)

Credit LineGift of Milton McGreevy

Object numberF61-55/1 A,B

On View

Not on view

Collections

European Art

Terms

Exhibition History

N/A

Gallery Label

According to the Bible, the Holy Family fled Bethlehem to escape the persecution of King Herod of Judea. Hans Rottenhammer portrays the three protagonists walking on the crest of a hill overlooking a town. Mary sits on a donkey, cradling an angelic baby Jesus who playfully makes eye contact with Joseph. The blue wash used to finish the loose pen sketch mimics the changing hues of an evening sky. Artists used this event as an opportunity to emphasize the humanity of Jesus and experiment with various landscape configurations.

Provenance

With Dr. Heinz Steinmeyer, Munich, by June 2, 1958 [1];

Purchased from Steinmeyer by Kunsthandlung Julius Böhler, Munich, stock no. M_58-041, June 2, 1958-September 14, 1959 [2];

Purchased from Kunsthandlung Julius Böhler by Milton McGreevy (1903-1980), Kansas City, MO, September 14, 1959-1961;

His gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1961.

NOTES:

[1] According to an email from Richard Winkler, Bayerisches Wirtschaftsarchiv, Munich, to MacKenzie Mallon, Specialist, Provenance, September 27, 2018, Nelson-Atkins curatorial files, the Julius Böhler records at the Bayerisches Wirtschaftsarchiv indicate Steinmeyer purchased this drawing in Munich in 1958, but the seller is unnamed. Lagerbuch, Record Group Böhler Kunsthandlung, (03 Unternehmen, F043 Julius Böhler), Bayerisches Wirtschaftsarchiv, Munich.

[2] Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte, Munich/Photothek, Julius Böhler Archive, Munich Index, M_58-041. Copies in Nelson-Atkins curatorial files.

Published References

MacKenzie Mallon, “’A Man We Wished to Work With’: The Kunsthandlung Julius Böhler and The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art,” in Cosima Dollansky, et al, eds., Quelle und Kontext: Objekte, Akteure, Prozesse der Kunsthandlung Julius Böhler (Munch: Zentralinstituts für Kunstgeschichte, 2025): 237.

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