Sujet

Massacre of the Innocents, c1380. Creator: Bartolo di Fredi.

Légende

Massacre of the Innocents, c1380. In an attempt to thwart the prophecy about Christ's rise to power, King Herod orders his soldiers to kill all the male infants under the age of two living in Bethlehem. They do this with ruthless efficiency. Bartolo's color scheme uses naturalistic details to enhance the drama of the scene. Note the contrast between the rosy coloring of the infants who are still alive and the green pallor of those already dead. This painting, which is beautifully preserved, was part of a monumental altarpiece commissioned for the Church of San Agostino in San Gimignano and was placed atop a large painting of the Presentation in the Temple now in the Museé du Louvre, Paris. The Massacre of the Innocents might have been executed by both Bartolo and Andrea (active 1389-1428), working collaboratively as a father and son team.

Crédit

Photo12/Heritage Images/Heritage Art

Notre référence

HRM23B21_295

Model release

NA

Property release

NA

Licence

Droits gérés

Format disponible

48,1Mo (1,9Mo) / 42,0cm x 28,7cm / 4960 x 3393 (300dpi)

Mots clés

portrait Italy Italian women woman people boy boys child children group crowd man men religious architecture arts painting infant baby babies country Rome religion metal law art guy crime violence museum church color dead death Christian Christianity infancy gold Roman war Gothic location century architectural ruthless soldiers soldier murder horror altar concept violent killing slaughter architectural style altarpiece Colour New Testament execution Bethlehem Palestine persecution gold leaf 14th century Fourteenth Century massacre Roman soldier Massacre of the Innocents murdering slaughtering tempera King Herod street portrait gold Herod King of Judaea Bartolo di Fredi late gothic Fredi Bartolo di Di Fredi Bartolo MATTHEW Walters Art Museum Herod the Great Heritage Art Tempera and gold leaf on panel Matthew's Gospel Herod I 1380s San Agostino