Ru van Rossem - The flight to Egypt - 1944 - Holy family fleeing Herod

Beautiful etching handsigned by Ru van Rossem, with the flight to Egypt displayed on it. From 1944, at the end of the war.

Ru van Rossem: The flight to Egypt

An early etching by Van Rossem, biblical theme this time: the holy family on the run from Herod's infanticide. Famous artists have portrayed this scene, a.o. Rembrandt, Albrecht Dürer, El Greco, to name a few. Van Rossem has situated the whole in a European winter landscape, an example of anatopism. The artist's intention could be to indicate that flights for persecution is of all times and can take place anywhere. Or is the holy family here a symbol of the Jewish people of Europe? The fact that this print was made during the Second World War only makes this last layer of meaning more plausible.