Vlucht naar Egypte before 1558

Hieronymus Cock produced this print, "Flight into Egypt", using etching in the mid-16th century. The image depicts Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus escaping to Egypt, a well known biblical episode. However, rather than a distant, exotic land, the landscape in which the Holy Family finds itself looks distinctly like 16th-century Flanders. We can see a watermill, a type of technology common to the area at this time, and a castle on a hill, a feature of the local geography. How might we interpret this displacement? Was this an attempt to make a religious story more accessible? By making the scene distinctly Flemish, Cock invites viewers to see their own world reflected in the narrative, blurring the lines between the biblical past and the present. To better understand Cock's intentions, one could look at how other artists from the region and time addressed religious themes. Remember, art historical interpretation hinges on understanding the context in which a work was produced.