Escape

"Escape" — likely depicting either the Flight into Egypt or the Exodus — represents one of Scripture's great narratives of departure from danger: the movement away from persecution toward an uncertain but divinely guaranteed safety. Watanabe's katazome rendering of this theme would depict figures in motion, the landscape behind them receding as they move toward an open horizon. The mingei tradition's emphasis on human dignity in ordinary life gives the fleeing figures a quiet heroism rather than the desperation of refugees.