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Photographed by Scott Wolff. Scanned from a slide. Color corrected by Pat Cagney.
Massacre of the Innocents
Photographed by Scott Wolff. Scanned from a slide. Color corrected by Pat Cagney.
Photographed by Scott Wolff. Scanned from a slide. Color corrected by Pat Cagney.

Massacre of the Innocents

Artist Marco Dente
Artist Baccio Bandinelli (Italian, 1488-1560)
Artist Antoine Lafréry (French, 1512 - 1577)
Date1520
MediumEngraving
DimensionsOverall, Sheet: 15 7/8 x 22 3/16 in. (40.3 x 56.4 cm)
Overall, Mat: 23 1/16 × 29 5/8 in. (58.6 × 75.2 cm)
Overall, Mat: 25 15/16 × 32 in. (65.9 × 81.3 cm)
ClassificationsEuropean art
Credit LineMuseum purchase, Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. Art Purchase Fund
Object number2001.17
Terms
  • infants
  • Murder
  • Women
  • Children
  • Men
  • Christ child
  • Black
  • White
  • Renaissance
  • Classicism
On View
Not on view
DescriptionThis engraving depicts the moment recounted in the Gospels (Matthew 2:16) when King Herod, having learned that a child had been born who would become King of the Jews, directed his soldiers to kill all infants two years of age and under in an attempt to destroy the Christ child. The focus of the engraving is the center; the murder of infants is shown in a coliseum. Figures are seen around the top of the coliseum as well as on the stage (indicated by steps) and floor. In the foreground, two infants have been killed and a woman holds the head of one in horror.

Label TextMarco Dente Italian (active 1515- d. 1527) After Baccio Bandinelli Italian (ca. 1493-1560) Massacre of the Innocents, 1520 Engraving Museum purchase, 2001.17 Focusing on the antique nude in complex motion, Bandinelli's dramatic, multi-figure composition is a premier example of Roman High Renaissance classicism-the revolutionary style championed by Michelangelo and Raphael in the early 16th century, and a style that Bandinelli quickly mastered. The engraving depicts the moment told in the Gospels when King Herod, having learned that a child had been born who would become King of the Jews, directed his soldiers to kill all Jewish infants under the age of two in a vain attempt to destroy the Christ Child. Bandinelli envisions the moment as a violent struggle between soldiers and mothers that unfolds in a classical courtyard. The print is composed of two sheets of paper, each pulled from a separate copper plate, and joined vertically just left of the image's central axis. Large, "royal-size" prints like this one were expensive purchases. Indeed, Massacre of the Innocents cost one lira to buy in 16th-century Rome-about twelve times the price of an ordinary print and the equivalent of a month's wages for an Italian laborer. Edited By: DS Edited Date: 08/2005 Approved By: MHM Approval Date: 10/12/2005
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