Giotto was an Italian painter
and architect from Florence who flourished during the late 13th
century to the mid 14th century. He is often considered to be one of
the first great artists of the Italian Renaissance.
This is such a beautiful
painting, simple and yet emphatic. Joseph looks resolved, yet afraid as he
leads the Holy Family into Egypt. Mary the Virgin holds her Child tenderly,
looking only ahead to the future and not back at her homeland and past. She
sits firm and resolute to save the Life that she bore within her, as the Child
Jesus clings to her with assurance and gladness. And of course, the angels are overhead guiding
and protecting the Holy Family. The most striking character here however, is
not a man, but a beast, the donkey. At the center of the painting he is calmly
and serenely bearing his burden. His ears lay flat in submission as he plods
along and on his face there is a look of joy and happiness, revealed by the
smile on his face, at the easy burden he must bear. What joy he must have had,
in his bestial way, to carry the Son of God upon his lowly back!
