The plate was not part of any of the major collections and is almost certainly not anymore in existence.

The flight into Egypt, described in Matthew 2:14-15, was one of Rembrandts favourite subjects of which he made a series of etchings over a rather long period, from 1629 till 1655 (Bartsch numbers 52 till 59). Most of these have a similar size. The story of the rest on the flight is not found in the Bible, but in the gospel of the pseudo-Matthew (chapters 20-21), which was later worked out in a 13th century book, the Legenda Aurea (the Golden Legends). It was a very popular subject of which many artists made paintings and/or engravings, including Rubens, Lucas Cranach, Maarten de Vos and Goltzius.

Mary is sitting, holding the Child in her right arm, feeding Him with her left hand. Joseph is stretching his right hand and offering something to Maria. It is probably some food he just cooked on the fire that is visible between his legs. Some authors think he is holding a pealed apple, stating that the knife he has just used is visible leaning against his right leg. It seems that Rembrandt considers a knife to be typical for traveling people, since it is also present in the two other etchings of the same subject (B 57 and B58) and in etchings with travellers, like in Hagar casting out Ishmael (B30) and in The Prodigal Son (B91). The donkey is just behind the couple. Left of Joseph we see a basket, a hat and a saw. The latter may be a reference to his profession as a carpenter (as Hinterding suggest) or just a handy tool for cutting wood when making a fire. In the background there is some unclear foliage and a tree. Between them a tower on a hill is vaguely visible.

Rembrandt must have been inspired by a painting by Adam Elsheimer (1609, Alte Pinakothek in Munich), which in itself became well-known through an engraving by Hendrick Goudt (1613). A copy of the painting was in the collection of Herman de Neyt (Dordrecht 1642).
Rembrandt copied the composition of an engraving by Lucas van Leyden, dated around 1506 (Bartsch 38).

The way the seated Joseph is pictured may have been inspired by an etching of Judah and Tamar made by his teacher Pieter Lastman. It is included in the collection Rembrandt in B&W, nr 350.

There is a painting in the same direction of about 1627. It was recently rehabilitated as Corpus C5 (Musée des Beaux-Arts in Tours). There is great similarity in the head of the donkey, the plants in the left foreground and other details. Benesch has described this in The Burlington Magazine, May 1954.
Much later, in 1647, Rembrandt made a painting (Bredius 576, National Gallery in Dublin) showing the family resting near a lake, in a moonlit night, with shepherds tending a campfire.
Hind refers to a painting by Ferdinand Bol, signed and dated 1644 (now in Dresden?).

There is a copy in reverse by Leopold Flameng in Blanc’s catalogue (1859-61, p. 471 (II), 107 x 82 mm).

Although there has been some doubt about the attribution of this etching, it is now considered by most authors (Bartsch, Rovinsky, De Claussin, Biörklund and Hinterding) to be one of the first plates made by Rembrandt. The most convincing argument is the similarity in style with The circumcision (S398, NHD 1), also disputed for a long period, but now generally accepted as authentic. The etching is considered as special by Bartsch and De Claussin.

All authors list one state only. The plate is not clean and there are many vertical scratches.

Only three impressions are known, in the Rijksmuseum, the British Museum and in the Albertina (R200).

H 307, BB 26-1, G 59, M -, Mz 186, RA 200, Cl 63, W -, Bl suppl, Du -, CD 310
Broos 1985, p. 40; Jan Six in Oud Holland 1909 (xxvii) p. 69 and 85; L.Burchard, Die holländische Radierer von Rembrandt, Halle 1912, p. 93; J.G. van Gelder, Rembrandt’s vroegste ontwikkeling (1953); Benesch, Burlington Magazine, (May 1954); Rembrandts Passie, p. 81; De grote Rembrandt p. 242; The Printmaker  (2000) p. 82-84; Verdi 2014, p. 38-61; Rising star 2019, p. 136;