Fine and Rare Painted and Embroidered Religious Silk / Sampler of Mary with Baby Jesus and Joseph

Fine and Rare Painted and Embroidered Religious Silk / Sampler Picture Of Mary with Jesus and Joseph and the donkey

Underneath the embroidery is handwritten the words

When her arose he took the young child and his mother by night and departed into Egypt which comes from Matthew

Made by Elisa Bannerman

(From Matthew 2:14
Joseph has now seen an angel of the Lord in two powerful dreams. In both he was given specific instructions from God. The first time, God told him to go through with his marriage to Mary even though she was pregnant (Matthew 1:20). Joseph learned that the child she carried was from the Holy Spirit and would save His people from their sins. The boy was Immanuel, "God with us."


Joseph obeyed immediately. Instead of breaking off the betrothal or even waiting for the betrothal time to be finished he took Mary into his home immediately as his wife, though he did not consummate their relationship until after Jesus was born (Matthew 1:24–25). They settled for a time in Bethlehem until one day a group of wise men and a large entourage showed up at their house. The impressive travelling wise men worshiped their son as a king and gave Him expensive gifts (Matthew 2:11–12).


After they left, the angel returned to Joseph in a dream with new instructions: Run to Egypt. Herod wants to kill the child. Alerted by the wise men, Herod saw Jesus as a potential threat to his throne. To protect his power, he would kill the boy.


Again, Joseph demonstrates his faith by obeying immediately. He packed up Jesus and Mary and left for Egypt by night. Travelling by night not only provided the cover of darkness to the young family, it also shows how urgent Joseph was to obey God and protect his family. It's likely the gifts of the wise men helped pay for this unexpected journey. Joseph and Mary likely saw this as another evidence that God was providing for and protecting them.


In that era, Bethlehem was around a one- or two-day trip from the borders of Herod's authority. Crossing that boundary to the south would put the family in Egypt. Going further would take them to the Nile Delta, where there was a large Jewish community. So an emergency escape into Egypt was a logical choice. It was still a Roman province, but it was outside of Herod's control. Many Jewish people lived in Egypt.


This experience of fleeing to Egypt for safety echoed the experience of the early Israelites who fled to Egypt from famine on several occasions (Genesis 12:10; 42:1–2), eventually becoming slaves to the Egyptians (Exodus 1:8–11) .



This is very old possibly late 18th Century it has wear and loss as to be expected of an item of its age - please refer to photos


The frame measures approx 54.5 x 56cm