''The Massacre of the Innocents'' is the subject of two paintings by

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...

depicting the episode of the biblical Massacre of the Innocents of Bethlehem, as related in the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and for ...

(2:13-18). The first, measuring 142 x 182 cm, was painted after his return to his native

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

in 1608, following eight years spent in Italy.

First painting

The first version painted by Rubens dates from around 1611–12. At the end of the seventeenth century, the painting became part of the Liechtenstein Collection in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, along with another Rubens painting, ''

Samson and Delilah Samson and Delilah are Biblical figures. Samson and Delilah may also refer to: In music * ''Samson and Delilah'' (opera), an opera by Camille Saint-Saëns * ''Samson & Delilah'' (album), released in 2013 by V V Brown * "Samson and Delilah" (t ...

''. The Forchondt brothers sold both paintings to

Hans-Adam I, Prince of Liechtenstein Hans-Adam I (Johann Adam Andreas; 16 August 1662 – 16 June 1712) was the son of Karl Eusebius, Prince of Liechtenstein (1611–1684) and Princess Johanna Beatrix of Dietrichstein (1625–1676). On 18 January 1699 he acquired the seigneur ...

whom they knew through his father

Karl Eusebius, Prince of Liechtenstein Karl Eusebius (11 April 1611 – 5 April 1684) was the Prince of Liechtenstein. He inherited this title in 1627 from his father Karl I. He was 16 and thus considered underage, and his uncles Prince Gundakar and Maximillian acted as regents ...

around 1700.Press release on record breaking sale amount
for Rubens ''Massacre of the Innocents'' The paintings were given the Liechtenstein family seal and are recorded in the

collection Collection or Collections may refer to: * Cash collection, the function of an accounts receivable department * Collection (church), money donated by the congregation during a church service * Collection agency, agency to collect cash * Collectio ...

until the 19th century, where drawings in 1815 show they hung side by side in the Garden Palace in Vienna. After being catalogued by Vincenzio Fanti as a Franciscus de Neve (II) in 1767, the ''Massacre'' was attributed in an anonymous inventory of the Liechtenstein Collection dated 1780 to one of Rubens' assistants, Jan van den Hoecke, ''after Rubens''. The composition was already known from what is now seen as a copy by Rubens' workshop. This was bought in 1902 by the

Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (french: Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, nl, Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België) are a group of art museums in Brussels, Belgium. They include six museums: the Oldmasters Muse ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

as a work by

Antoon Sallaert Antoon Sallaert or Anthonis Sallaert (1594–1650) was a Flemish Baroque painter, draughtsman and printmaker who was active in Brussels. Sallaert produced many devotional paintings for the Brussels court of Archdukes Albert and Isabella as we ...

. Under that attribution it remained until it was sold to an Austrian family in 1920. It was subsequently loaned in 1923 to

Stift Reichersberg Reichersberg Abbey (german: Stift Reichersberg) is a monastery of the Innviertel Congregation of the Austrian Augustinian Canons. It lies on the Inn River in Reichersberg, Upper Austria. History Original monastery The nobleman Wernher von Reich ...

, a monastery in northern Austria. In 2001, the painting was seen by George Gordon, an expert in Flemish and Dutch paintings at

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

in London. He was persuaded that it was indeed a Rubens by its similar characteristics and style to the ''

'' painted around the same time. The work was sold at auction at Sotheby's, London on July 10, 2002, for £49.5 million ( C$117 million) CTV:
Thomson family buyer of $117-million painting
', July 13, 2002. to Canadian businessman and art collector

Kenneth Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet Kenneth Roy Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet (September 1, 1923 – June 12, 2006), known in Canada as Ken Thomson, was a Canadian/British businessman and art collector. At the time of his death, he was listed by ''Forbes'' as the richest per ...

. Following the auction the painting was loaned to the

National Gallery, London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

for a period before its transfer in 2008 to the

Art Gallery of Ontario The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; french: Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located in the Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, on Dundas Street West between McCaul and Beve ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, to whom Thomson had donated it, and which was undergoing a major rebuilding and expansion during those years.

Later versions

Towards the end of his life, between 1636 and 1638, Rubens painted a second version of the ''Massacre of the Innocents''. This version was acquired by the

Alte Pinakothek The Alte Pinakothek (, ''Old Pinakothek'') is an art museum located in the Kunstareal area in Munich, Germany. It is one of the oldest galleries in the world and houses a significant collection of Old Master paintings. The name Alte (Old) Pinak ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

by 1706, where it remains. A copy of this later version was made as an engraving in 1643 by

Paulus Pontius Paulus Pontius (May 1603 in Antwerp – 16 January 1658 in Antwerp) was a Flemish engraver and painter. He was one of the leading engravers connected with the workshop of Peter Paul Rubens. After Rubens' death, Pontus worked with other leadin ...

Analysis

It is widely regarded as a demonstration of the artist's learnings from his time spent in Italy between 1600 and 1608, where he observed first-hand the works of Italian

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

painters like

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of hi ...

. These influences are seen in this painting through the sheer drama and emotive dynamism of the scene, as well as the rich colour. There is also evidence of the use of

chiaroscuro Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to achi ...

. He also used

écorché An ''écorché'' () is a figure drawn, painted, or sculpted showing the muscles of the body without skin, normally as a figure study for another work or as an exercise for a student artist. The Renaissance-era architect, theorist and all-around R ...

figures - anatomical statues with the skin removed-to study how the body was made.

Context

At the time of Rubens' first painting on the subject Antwerp had been involved in warfare only a few years before- a conflict temporarily frozen by the truce of 1609. In one year alone over 8,000 citizens had been killed by Calvinists and Catholics alike as the Spanish forces ruling the Netherlands sought to repel Protestant armies. Massacres were a reality in Antwerp; north of the city the Protestant rebel leader Prince Mauritz commissioned

Cornelis van Haarlem Cornelis Corneliszoon van Haarlem (1562 – 11 November 1638) was a Dutch Golden Age painter and draughtsman, one of the leading Northern Mannerist artists in the Netherlands, and an important forerunner of Frans Hals as a portraitist. Biograph ...

to paint the same scene for

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

's town hall,- propaganda intended to tell of Spanish atrocities against the Dutch people. Antwerp however remained a Catholic stronghold and became a leading centre of

Counter Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...

thought.The Independent on Sunday, 11 January 2004

Notes

External links

BBC News article on the auction

{{DEFAULTSORT:Massacre Of The Innocents (Rubens) Paintings by Peter Paul Rubens 1612 paintings 1638 paintings Collection of the Alte Pinakothek Collections of the Art Gallery of Ontario

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...