The Miracle of the Palm Tree on the Flight into Egypt in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, March 2009

The Miracle of the Palm Tree on the Flight into Egypt
Walnut, gesso, paint, and gilding
Spanish, Castile
Carved and painted about 1490-1510

Accession # 38.184

This sculpture, probably from a retable (decoration behind an altar), is said to come from the Cathedral of La Calahorra in Logrono, Castile. The scene, depicting Jesus commanding the palm tree to bend down so that the Holy Family could eat its fruit, is based on New Testament Apocrypha, episodes from the life of Jesus not recounted in the Gospels. The composition follows closely an engraving by Martin Schongauer, dated to about 1476.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.