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The Massacre of the Innocents is the subject of two paintings by Peter Paul Rubens depicting the episode of the biblical Massacre of the Innocents of Bethlehem, as related in the Gospel of Matthew (2:13–18).
The Painting: The Massacre of the Innocents is a story from the life of Christ. As recounted in the Gospel of Matthew (2:16–18), Herod the Great, King of Judea, ordered the slaughter of all boys under the age of two in and near the town of Bethlehem.
Paintings. Massacre of the Innocents by the Bruegels. Several versions of The Massacre of the Innocents were painted by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1565–67) and his son Pieter Brueghel the Younger (into the 17th century).
Several oil-on-oak-panel versions of The Massacre of the Innocents were painted by 16th-century Netherlandish painters Pieter Bruegel the Elder and his son Pieter Brueghel the Younger.
This painting appears to show a sixteenth century Netherlandish village being plundered, with soldiers beating peasants, clambering into buildings and stealing livestock. The artist, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, evokes the freezing cold temperatures with icicles dripping from the rooftops, a slushy road in the distance and frozen pond.
Art Gallery of Ontario. AGO’s collection of close to 95,000 works ranges from cutting-edge contemporary art to European masterpieces; from the vast collection by the Group of Seven to works by established and emerging Indigenous Canadian artists.
Bruegel’s Massacre of the Innocents was a popular image, repeated numerous times by Bruegel’s imitators. The best versions (Brussels, Vienna. etc) are by the artist’s son, Pieter Brueghel the Younger and are of vital importance.
Lucas (the Elder) Cranach, The Massacre of the Innocents, c. 1515, pen and grey-brown ink with grey wash and additions in pen and brown ink on laid paper, laid down on wove paper, 30.5 x 21.9 cm, National Gallery of Canada
Gerolamo Mocetto, The Massacre of the Innocents with Herod, about 1500-25. Read about this painting, learn the key facts and zoom in to discover more.
Bruegel’s Massacre of the Innocents was a popular image, repeated numerous times mainly by the artist and by his son, Pieter Brueghel the Younger. Shortly after its creation the painting came into the possession of the Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolph II, in Prague.
