Giorgione and the Flight into Egypt

  The  writer and lecturer Francis DeStefano has many interesting thing to say on his blog about The Tempest by Giorgione, on which he presented a paper in Venice in 2010. His view is that this is a version of the Flight into Egypt. 



The Tempest, Giorgione
Accademia, Venice, though more often than not when I go there it has been whisked off somewhere else.

 
 
There are obvious objections to this, and DeStefano doesn't shy away from them: Joseph looks too young, Mary is naked, and (though he doesn't mention this one) where's the donkey? 
   His argument is  convincing, and the blog is an engrossing read even for the sceptical. He also refers to another Giorgione, now only to be seen in copies, that he suggests shows the Holy Family's encounter with the two robbers, which doesn't appear in any other painting that I know of, though DeStefano suggests two possibilities.  
   Recommended. Read the blog at http://giorgionetempesta.blogspot.com/   

 

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