18. The Massacre of the Innocents

Art Gallery of Ontario

18 The Massacre of the Innocents, c. 1610, AGO NARRATOR: Babies wrenched from their mothers’ arms, and dying beneath their feet. A child raised up high, to be brutally dashed to the ground. And a grandmother, about to be mercilessly killed. This violent and shocking scene pictures an event early in the life of Christ. Herod, King of Judea, heard that a child who was “King of the Jews” had been born in Bethlehem. Infuriated, he ordered his men to murder all the baby boys there. Luckily, Christ’s family had fled, following a warning from an angel, before the terrible massacre began. SASHA SUDA: Nothing can redeem the tangle of figures at the center of the composition. Children to the bottom right of the painting are already blue and lifeless. The intensity of this image I believe is meant to convey the toxicity of one leader’s desire for power above all else. NARRATOR: As well as displaying extreme drama and emotion, the painting shows off Rubens’ knowledge of classical art and architecture. SASHA SUDA: The bodies of the figures are absolute quotations of antique sculptures that Rubens saw in Rome. And this ruin behind the three figures furthest to the right suggests the Roman ruins that Rubens might have encountered.