Scripture · Luke 2:7
Matthew 2:14-15
Rest on the Flight into Egypt (Madonna of the Cherries)
So he got up, took the Child and His mother by night, and withdrew to Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
A child reaches for cherries, a mother attends to water, and Joseph brings the branch within reach. Barocci makes refuge depend on small acts of care. The danger lies outside the frame; inside it, the immediate question is how to feed a tired family.
About the artwork
Joseph’s red cloak, Mary’s pink dress and the blue cloth gather the three figures into a bright, intimate group. Their hands link the fruit, the bowl and the child. Even the donkey leans into this busy resting place. The familiar name Madonna of the Cherries singles out an offering small enough for Jesus to grasp.
The Vatican connects the fruit tree with Pseudo-Matthew’s later story of a palm bending to feed the travelers. Barocci replaces the palm’s fruit with cherries. In the museum’s interpretation, their red color recalls Christ’s Passion while their sweetness evokes Paradise: the same mouthful can suggest future suffering and delight.
Featured in: Top 10 Beautiful Flight into Egypt Paintings
What does Matthew 2:14-15 mean?
Matthew 2:14–15 says the family left by night and stayed in Egypt until Herod died. It does not describe this meal. Barocci’s imagined pause supplies something that the brief account leaves unstated: an endangered child must also eat, drink and be held. The picture’s tenderness belongs within the escape, not beyond its need for protection.
Sources
Pinacoteca Vaticana, Vatican Museums (inv. 40377); canvas.
Matthew 2 — Berean Standard Bible. The paired text read in its surrounding chapter.
Cropped reproduction of the Vatican painting. Cropped reproduction of the Vatican painting.
Top 10 Beautiful Flight into Egypt Paintings. Exact-work commentary, image provenance and source register.
Also from Matthew:Marriage of the VirginThe Dream of Saint Joseph