As abbess (1167-95) of the monastery of Hohenburg, Herrad Of Landsberg compiled for her nuns the Hortus Deliciarum (Garden of Delights), a compendium of secular and religious sciences. This image is one of the many illustrations for that work. The Latin inscription near Joseph, who leads the donkey, states in abbreviated form: “Joseph took the boy and his mother and withdrew into Egypt and stayed there until the death of Herod,” reporting Matthew 2:14-15a. The young man following behind is identified as “Joseph’s servant.”
