Vlucht naar Egypte 1620 - 1664

This print, "Flight into Egypt," depicts Mary, the infant Jesus, and Joseph fleeing to Egypt. The halo, a radiant circle around the heads of Mary and Jesus, signifies divinity and spiritual enlightenment, a visual cue that has roots in ancient sun worship and was later adopted by Christianity to denote holiness. This motif isn't unique; we see similar radiant symbols across cultures, from the nimbus in Buddhist art to the solar discs of ancient Egyptian deities. Such recurring symbols point to a collective human desire to visually represent the sacred. Notice how Mary tenderly cradles Jesus, a gesture of maternal protection. This echoes images of Isis with Horus, evoking the universal archetype of the nurturing mother, an emotional and psychological touchstone engaging viewers across different times and cultures on a deeply subconscious level. These symbols, far from being static, evolve, resurface, and take on new meanings in different historical contexts. They remind us that cultural memory is not linear but cyclical, constantly reinterpreting and reimagining the past in the present.