The Holy Family Leaving by a City Gate, plate seven from The Flight into Egypt 1753

Curator: Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo created this etching, a print on paper entitled "The Holy Family Leaving by a City Gate, plate seven from The Flight into Egypt" around 1753. Editor: There's something so immediately stark about the composition. The weighty stone arch, the contrast of light and shadow—it feels like they're escaping something more than just a city, perhaps destiny itself. Curator: Escape is certainly the mood. Think about the figures huddled on the right, watching, perhaps judging, as the Holy Family departs under that looming archway. The flight to Egypt is rich with interpretations about displacement. The protective journey into uncertainty. Editor: Right, that heavy stone arch almost swallows the leaving group. And the characters at the side—they feel so intricately shaded, like memories struggling to stay sharp. There's this constant hum of human drama surrounding even the most divine stories. Do you notice the banner over them? Curator: The standards that sometimes act as town identification banners? Absolutely. Those additions anchor the narrative in a very specific, very *human* space. You could almost hear the murmur of their conversations, the rustle of clothing. Editor: I am reminded that journeys in art – perhaps all art – resonate so strongly, representing life's inherent itinerancy. From myth to today, there is no arrival, only movement and reinvention. And etched here with such beautiful lines. There's a strange sense of urgency married with quiet determination. What a remarkable capture. Curator: Indeed, a complex little scene etched on paper evoking displacement, fear, and maybe even, dare I say, a touch of Venetian flair. Editor: A narrative frozen mid-escape, ripe with echoes. Tiepolo really nailed the subtle theater of it all.