Massacre of the Innocents.
The bible in Matthew 2:16 describes a massacre of babies
on order of King Herod after hearing of the birth of a new
king, Jesus, in his realm. This incident, known as the
massacre (or slaughter) of the innocents, exemplifying the
horror of harming children with the power of the state, has
inspired artists over many centuries. Here are a few of
their works. Clicking on the image brings a larger
version.
anonymous
Mosaic of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore,
Vatican, Rome, created AD 432-440, restored in
1593 and the 1990s.
artist unknown
From the Egbert Codex, created AD 980-993 for
Archbishop Egbert of Trier, and still stored in
that city.
anonymous
Picture Bible from the Monestary of St Bertin,
France. Created ca 1200. National Library of
the Netherlands.
ca 1275
Tympanum of Strasbourg Cathedral.
unknown artist
from f.15v of MS K.26, one of a sequence of 46
Biblical illustrations (c.1270-80) inserted at
the front of a fourteenth-century Psalter
(English). St John's College, Cambridge.
Giotto di Bondone, c1267-1337
Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, completed ca 1305.
Giotto di Bondone, c1267-1337
Fresco at Assisi
Giovanni Pisano, c1250-1314
Pisa Cathedral, 1302-11.
Giovanni Pisano, c1250-1314
Sant'Andrea Cathedral, Pistoia
Duccio di Buoninsegna, c1255-1319
created 1308-11.
Kariye-Camii
Fresco at Kariye-Camii, Istanbul, Byzantine
Church restored 1316-1321.
Jean Pucelle c 1300-1355
Illuminated prayer book created ca 1324 "The
Hours of Pucelle", located in the Cloisters in
New York City. The depiction is similar to that
of Pisano.
Giusto de Menabuoi, c1320-1391
no details
Hugo van der Goes, c1440-1482
Artist uncertain, part of a larger work at the
Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg.
Fra Angelico, c1387-1455
Painted 1451-53.
Sano di Pietro, 1406-1481
painted ca 1470
Domenico Ghirlandaio 1449-1494
Fresco at Cappella Tornabuoni, Santa Maria
Novella, Florence, created 1486-90.
Jean Poyet, active 1483-1503
From the Hours of Henry VIII (Latin),
illuminated by Jean Poyet ca 1500. At the
Pierpont Morgan Library.
Marcantonio Raimondi, c1475-1534
Created 1510, now at the Hermitage Museum, St
Petersburg.
Gerolamo Mocetto, 1458-1532
Created 1500-25, now at the National Gallery,
London. They are believed to be fragments from
a single work.
Amico Aspertini
Created 1510-1520.
Domenico Campagnola, c1500-1564
Created 1517, now at the Hermitage Museum, St
Petersburg.
Andreas Oslander, 1498-1552
From the book Harmoniae Eulangelicae libri
quator, published 1540.
Daniele da Volterra, 1509-1566
Life in a group home. Oil on canvas, now at
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.
Pieter Bruegel, c1525-1569
Painted 1567, oil on wood. This painting was
copied by his son Pieter Bruegel the younger.
The identity of the original is in dispute.
Jacopo Robusti Tintoretto 1518-1594
Painted 1582-87.
Cornelis Van Haarlem, 1562-1638
Painted 1590, now in the Rijksmuseum,
Amsterdam.
Cornelis Van Haarlem, 1562-1638
Painted 1591. Oil on canvas, now at the Frans
Halsmuseum, Haarlem.
Guido Reni, 1572-1642
Painted 1611, now at Pinacoteco Nazionale,
Bologna.
Alessandro Turchi
Painted ca 1620.
Pietro Testa, 1611-1650
Painted 1630-40, now at Galleria Spada,
Rome.
Charles LeBrun, 1619-1690
Created 1647.
Sébastien Bourdon, 1616-1671
Painted early 1640's, Hermitage Museum, St
Petersburg.
Nicholas Poussin, 1594-1665
Social worker apprehends baby from abusive
mother. Musée de Condé,
Chantilly.
Nicolas Chevillard, no biography
Painted 1657. Notre-Dame de Baune.
Valerio Castello, 1624-1659
Created 1656-58. Hermitage Museum, St
Petersburg.
Peter Paul Rubens, 1577-1640
Painting created 1611-12. In July 2002 this
became the most expensive painting ever sold
when Sotheby's in London auctioned it for
£49.5 million.
Peter Paul Rubens, 1577-1640
A less notorious painting by Rubens, painted
1636-38.
Francois Joseph Navez, 1787-1869
Painted 1824.
Leon Cogniet, 1794-1880
While medieval and renaissance painters showed
mayhem and murder, Cogniet shows only fear.
Painted 1824, Musée des Beaux-Arts,
Rennes.
Middlestone
From a US Civil War collection, in imitation of
Cogniet
Carl Bloch, 1834-1890
Created 1875.
Gustave Doré, 1832-1883
no details
Gustave Doré, 1832-1883
Same subject and artist, this time a pen and ink
drawing created 1869-72. Dahesh Museum of Art,
New York.
Antoni Gaudí, 1852-1926
Detail of the Joseph Portal, Temple Expiatori de
la Sagrada FamÃlia, Barcelona
Eric Gill, 1882-1940
Wood engraving created 1914, or 1929.
Faroe Islands stamp, 2001
Scream of Rama, mothers react to the senseless
murder of their babies by King Herod's
soldiers
