Anthony of Padua, The Flight into Egypt

Mid-16th century
Fresco
Church of St. Roch, Draguć, Croatia

The three figures with haloes are of course Joseph, Mary, and the Christ Child. They appear to be leaving Bethlehem: the parapets of a city wall are behind them, and right of that a star appears to be shining one golden ray onto Mary.

The figure on the right is Salome, who accompanied the family in The History of Joseph the Carpenter. According to some manuscripts of Pseudo-Matthew he was Mary's stepfather. He also appears with his beard, satchel, and staff in this fragment of an altar screen, also from Croatia but five centuries earlier.

The artist, Anthony of Padua, was an Istrian painter identified by the French Michelin Guide.

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Photographed at the church by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.