The small exhibition at the National Gallery entitled Titian’s First Masterpiece: ‘The Flight into Egypt’, open until 19 August, is centred on a large canvas from the Hermitage. The picture has not been much discussed by scholars. This is partly because it has just emerged from a lengthy restoration, partly because it is known to most specialists mainly or only through photographs, and not least because it does not look much like any other painting generally accepted as by Titian. This is the first time in well over a century that the Flight has been seen outside Russia, and the first occasion on which it has been displayed with a substantial group of other works by the young Titian, several of them belonging to the National Gallery.

LRB 24 May 2012 | PDF Download