In the early 1750s Giandomenico Tiepolo (1727-1804) made a large series of etchings to illustrate the Biblical episode of the Flight into Egypt, when Joseph and Mary hastened out of town to protect the Baby Jesus and make sure he was not included in the Slaughter of the Innocents. Above, Joseph enters the sacred bedroom to announce to Mary that God wills them immediately to depart. Attending angels in the background have already begun to lift their wings and flutter their draperies. Below are illustrated scenes of the Holy Family and their donkey with swelling crowds of angel-protectors at the outset of their journey.
Episodes from the Flight into Egypt are gathered here from prints at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and at the Rijksmuseum.