Gerard de la Vallée

GERARD DE LA VALLÉE (Netherlands,1596/1597-after 1667).
"The Return from the Flight into Egypt".
Oil on copper.
Presents faults in the frame.
Signed in the central inferior zone.
Measurements: 55 x 72 cm; 75 x 92 cm (frame).
The flight to Egypt is an episode of the Gospel of Matthew very treated in art, frequently used to identify the Holy Family with those disadvantaged by emigration and political repression. The New Testament story, very brief and typical of the Gospel of Matthew, tells how an angel appears in a dream to St. Joseph and tells him that he must flee to Egypt with Mary and the Child, because King Herod was looking for him to kill him. Joseph obeys, and after a while he is ordered to return, in a similar manner. The evangelist himself sees in the episode the fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy: "out of Egypt I called my son" (Hosea 11:1). In the apocryphal Gospels and in the later Christian tradition, this episode will be expanded with a multitude of anecdotes and miracles.
Gerard de la Vallée was a Flemish painter known for his landscapes and history paintings, with a style inspired by the great Flemish masters and intended mainly for export. Little is known with certainty about the life of Gerard de la Vallée. He is registered in Mechelen on July 3, 1620. He was active in Paris from 1620 to 1625. In 1625 he is again mentioned in Mechelen, where he painted a picture for the baroque church of Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-over-de-Dijlekerk. In the guild year 1626-1627 he is documented in Antwerp by registering as a master in the local guild of St. Luke under the name of Geeraert de la Vallee. De la Vallee worked for the workshop of Forchondt, who was one of the most important exporters of Flemish art to all corners of Europe and South America. Many of the works produced in Forchondt's workshop, including those of Gerard de la Vallée, used copper as a support. This facilitated their export from Antwerp to Seville, where Forchondt had a trading post. From Seville, the works were shipped via Cadiz to Vera Cruz (Mexico), where they were sold to local convents.
La Vallée's landscapes show the influence of Abraham Govaerts and Jan Brueghel the Elder and are often derived or inspired by the works of the great masters of the Antwerp school. For example, in his Ecce Homo (En Jan de Maere), the figure of Christ is inspired by Anthony van Dyck's Ecce Homo at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham, England. The mining of images from other masters to create new works intended for the export market was a hallmark of Forchondt's workshop and is also evident in de la Vallée's work.