Getting started with the collection:
The Massacre of the Innocents
Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem (1562–1638), oil on canvas, 1590
When Herod, the King of Judea, learned that a child destined to become ‘King of the Jews’ would be born in Bethlehem, he ordered the slaughter of all boys under the age of two. The painter portrayed the massacre as a gruesome nightmare. Horror follows upon horror: at lower left a soldier slits a child’s throat, while above them a woman gouges out a soldier’s eyes.
- Artwork typepainting
- Object numberSK-A-128
- Dimensionsheight 245 cm x width 358 cm, height 269 cm x width 388 cm x thickness 12 cm
- Physical characteristicsolieverf op doek