CARAVAGGIO
(b. 1571, Caravaggio, d. 1610, Porto Ercole)

Rest on Flight to Egypt (detail)

1596-97
Oil on canvas, width of detail 48 cm
Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome

The golden section splits the composition into two parts: the left-hand one, with St Joseph, the donkey, and stones, is dedicated to earthly life, while the right-hand area, which includes the Madonna and Child among living plants, is devoted to the divine world.

On this detail we can see before an autumnal river-front scene the sleeping Mary with a dozing infant in her left.