Rest on the Way into Egypt – Luc-Olivier Merson – Beautiful Catholic Artwork – Archival Quality

The stillness of the desert night is so striking in this picture. The width of it too gives it the "lone and level sands stretching far away" feel. The Holy Family is in Egypt. And Mary resting in the contented arms of the Sphinx! That is a trope occasionally seen in French art of the period, and we're wondering if Merson invented it. The Sphinx, we presume, is smiling because the Light of the World rests next to his formerly dead pagan heart. Luc Olivier Merson (1846-1920) was a French painter who did some of the most innovative work in Catholic art of the 19th and 20th Centuries. He was also very popular and did currency and stamp designs for France, as well as church decorations, including the huge art behind the altar at the magnificent Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre. He came from an artistic Catholic family and was in the Paris Salons at age 20. He did this painting in 1880. This is a slightly cropped version to fit modern paper, but we can print it in its original width o