Bruegel the Elder, Pieter (c.1525-1569)
Massacre of the Innocents (copy)
4th quarter of the 16th century
Oil on oak, 116 × 159.7 × 3.5 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Due to minimal errors and omissions as well as an age test conducted on the wood, and despite its high quality, this picture is considered a copy made by the artist’s son of a picture by the father. Both examples were previously to be found in the collection of Emperor Rudolph II. The biblical subject of the infanticide ordered by Herod is relocated by Bruegel to a snowy Flemish village. The event is brought up to date to resemble a contemporary penal expedition due to the clothing, as the troops on horseback with their red tunics were a kind of police unit. Inv.-Nr. GG 1024. (KHM)
Compare:
Bruegel the Elder, Pieter (c.1525-1569)
Massacre of the Innocents
1565–1567
Brukenthal National Museum, Sibiu
Bruegel the Elder, Pieter (c.1525-1569)
Massacre of the Innocents
c.1565–1567
Royal Collection, Windsor Castle
Bruegel the Elder, Pieter (c.1525-1569)
Massacre of the Innocents (copy)
17th century
Upton House and Gardens, England