In the Gospel of Matthew, after the departure of the Wise Men, an angel warned Joseph to flee with Mary and Jesus to Egypt. While Jesus and his cousin John tenderly say goodbye, Joseph, escorted by angels who will guide the family's journey, brings up the donkey for departure. John carries a little cross, is accompanied by a lamb symbolizing Christ's eventual sacrifice that John will later prophecy, and wears the animal skin that will be his clothing as an adult in the wilderness. Years later, Christ came upon John preaching the coming of the Messiah and was baptized by him. The scene gently insists that Christ's life and sacrifice were pre-destined.
<bdi><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Pieter_van_Avont" class="extiw" title="w:en:Pieter van Avont"><span title="Flemish painter (1600-1652)">Pieter van Avont</span></a>
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circa 1625 <div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1625-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902</div> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Baroque" class="extiw" title="w:en:Baroque"><span title="cultural movement, starting around 1600">Baroque</span></a><div style="display: none;">era QS:P2348,Q37853</div>)
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Walters_Art_Museum" class="extiw" title="w:en:Walters Art Museum"><span title="art museum in Baltimore, Maryland, United States">Walters Art Museum</span></a>: <a href="https://thewalters.org/" rel="nofollow"><img alt="Nuvola filesystems folder home.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Nuvola_filesystems_folder_home.svg/20px-Nuvola_filesystems_folder_home.svg.png" decoding="async" width="20" height="20" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Nuvola_filesystems_folder_home.svg/30px-Nuvola_filesystems_folder_home.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Nuvola_filesystems_folder_home.svg/40px-Nuvola_filesystems_folder_home.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128"></a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://thewalters.org/">Home page</a> <a href="https://art.thewalters.org/detail/18119" rel="nofollow"><img alt="Information icon.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Information_icon.svg/20px-Information_icon.svg.png" decoding="async" width="20" height="20" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Information_icon.svg/30px-Information_icon.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Information_icon.svg/40px-Information_icon.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="620" data-file-height="620"></a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://art.thewalters.org/detail/18119">Info about artwork</a>