Joseph, Mary and the infant Jesus are fleeing from King Herod. Here, they are resting, surrounded by angels making music. Behind them is a pastoral landscape of ancient ruins, wooded slopes and rocky precipices. Teniers was inspired by what he had seen around Rome, a desolate landscape with ruins, serving as a backdrop. The many-figured scene in the foreground celebrates the Holy Family’s escape from Herod’s slaying of the infants in Bethlehem.