Rest on the Flight into Egypt | Luc-Olivier Merson | 1880 Select Size:24" x 12" painted in 1871

painted in 1871

a nude woman shields her face in shame as a slave dealer displays her on a raised platform before a crowd of leering men bidding her price

empty canvas in a dimly lit room

and the inevitability of death

Rest on the Flight into Egypt | Luc-Olivier Merson | 1880 Select Size:24" x 12" painted in 1871About the artwork: Rest on the Flight into Egypt (1880) by Luc Olivier Merson transforms the biblical story into a hauntingly poetic scene of silence and solitude. Instead of focusing on the traditional warmth of the Holy Family, Merson places them in a desolate desert under the pale glow of moonlight. The Virgin Mary, dressed in blue, sleeps with the infant Jesus in her arms, resting at the feet of a massive Egyptian sphinx that looms protectively