Cleveland Museum of Art

The Return of the Holy Family from Egypt

Claude Simpol

Date

c. 1695–1700

Medium

pen and black ink, gray opaque watercolor and white heightening on prepared yellow paper

Culture

France

Department

Drawings

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The iconography of this drawing by the late 17th-century artist Claude Simpol is that of the Holy Family, but the exact subject is harder to identify with certainty. Due to the child’s ambiguous age, the scene is either the return of the Holy Family from the Flight into Egypt, or the return from the temple after Christ appeared among the doctors. Though loving and tender, the serious expressions and air of melancholy foreshadow Christ’s sacrifice, which is implied by the child’s arms held outstretched by his parents as if on a cross. The subtlety of emotion emphasizes the familial connection of the Holy Family and thus Christ’s humanity. To make this drawing, the artist employed an unusual combination of materials, consisting of grey and white opaque watercolors and ink on a yellowish prepared paper, which offsets the figures in the scene with a warm glow.

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