The Escape to Egypt

This episode of Jesus childhood was depicted in a wooded setting with twilight. he scene is reduced to the fundamental elements, outlining the figures in the foreground with loose but precise brushstrokes. The contrasting play of light and shadow emphasizes the nocturnal setting. In 1773-1774 Goya painted a cycle of mural scenes on the life of the Virgin in the Carthusian monastery of Aula Dei (Zaragoza), all in horizontal format and of a stylistic stage very close to the painting now catalogued.

These include The Escape to Egypt, which is one of the scenes that has not been preserved. As there is documentary evidence that sketches for these Aula Dei paintings existed but were never found, it has been speculated that there is a possible link between them and the Cuenca painting, although it is not necessarily assumed to be one of these lost sketches. It has also been associated with three drawings in the Italian Notebook (pg. 68, 69 and 146) in which a head of a donkey is depicted, reminiscent of the one in the painting.