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Rest on the Flight to Egypt
About the Artwork
This charcoal sketch relates to an oil painting that was tremendously popular at the 1879 Paris Salon. In both works, Luc-Olivier Merson depicted the Holy Family finding refuge in a massive sphinx sculpture during the rest on the flight into Egypt. The drawing may have been an independent work or, more likely, a study for the painting or a related print.
Inscriptions
lower right: L. Olivier Merson
Provenance
?-2018: William Kelly Simpson, Katonah, New York [1928-2017], bequeathed to the Cleveland Museum of Art 2018-: Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Luc-Olivier Merson (French, 1846–1920)
- Date
- c. 1879
- Medium
- charcoal
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 36.9 x 51.5 cm (14 1/2 x 20 1/4 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Bequest of William Kelly Simpson
- Accession no.
- 2018.74
More by Luc-Olivier Merson in museum collections
The Rest on the Flight into Egypt (recto); Sketch of a Sphinx [?] (verso)
Luc-Olivier Mersonc. 1879–80 · Drawing
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00011295
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