Kindermoord te Betlehem

About this artwork

collector's mark: Lugt 240

Art Historical Context

**Kindermoord te Betlehem (Massacre of the Innocents in Bethlehem)** Marco Dente, Marco Dente (c. 1486–1527) Behold this dramatic engraving capturing the harrowing biblical tale from the Gospel of Matthew, where King Herod orders the slaughter of Bethlehem's innocents in a futile bid to eliminate the infant Jesus. Titled *Kindermoord te Betlehem*—Dutch for "Massacre of the Innocents"—this poignant scene embodies Renaissance artists' fascination with emotional intensity and human tragedy, drawing viewers into a whirlwind of maternal despair and chaos. Crafted as a large-scale engraving (4...

About the Artist

Marco Dente · 1515–1527

Marco Dente (died 1527), also known as Marco da Ravenna, was among the most accomplished printmakers working in Rome during the High Renaissance, a period that witnessed an extraordinary flowering of engraving as both a reproductive and an independent artistic medium. Little is known of his early training, but by the second decade of the sixteenth century he had established himself in the orbit of...