To mark the Christmas celebrations, for the second year running the Fundación María Cristina Masaveu Peterson is showing a work related to the Nativity cycle. It is a painting on canvas by Juan Sánchez Cotán (1560−1627) belonging to the FMCMP collection, acquired in the spring of 2022 and recently restored. Sánchez Cotán was one of the most outstanding early naturalist painters in Spain. 

Particularly renowned for his still lifes, he was also an important painter of religious pictures who joined the Carthusian monastery in Granada as a lay brother in 1603. Most of his paintings, including this one, were produced before that date. This Flight into Egypt is representative of the style called ‘reformed mannerism’, characterised by the triumph of the anecdotal and the pursuit of empathy. These features are illustrated by details such as the angel bringing dates to the Christ Child, who prepares to receive them, and the cherub descending from heaven to place a leafy crown on the Virgin’s head. Set in a Flemish landscape, the scene shows the donkey moving along with the Virgin and Child on its back. 

Joseph follows after them on foot carrying a water gourd and his carpentry tools over his shoulders. The figures, inspired by the paintings of Luca Cambiaso (1527−1585), a Genoese artist based in Spain, are notable for their sculptural monumentality, the use of marked drawing and their vivid colours, which lend them a powerful presence. All these aspects, together with the candid portrayal of the theme, are common in this artist’s oeuvre and explain the great success and popularity he enjoyed in the intellectual and religious environment of late 16th-century Toledo.

The Fundación María Cristina Masaveu Peterson has organised a number of guided tours in connection with the exhibition of this work. View the conditions here.