Massacre of the Innocents
Medium
Black chalk, brush and gray wash, highlighted with white gouache on light blue laid paper faded to gray-brown
Dimensions
10-7/16 x 8-1/4 in. (26.5 x 21 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Cornelius Vanderbilt, 1880
Accession Number
80.3.47
Tags
Art Historical Context
This poignant drawing, *Massacre of the Innoc*, captures the biblical tragedy the Gospel of Matthew, where King Herod's soldiers slaughter infant in Bethlehem to eliminate the newborn Christ child. Created by an anonymous artist from the Roman-Bolognese school in 17th-century Italy, it reflects the dramatic intensity of Baroque art, a period when emotional religious scenes flourished amid the Counter-Reformation. Bologna was a hub for masterful draftsmanship, influenced by artists like the Carracci brothers, and this work exemplifies tradition's focus on human pathos and movement. Executed in...