Massacre of the Innocents
4th Quarter of 16th Century | Pieter Bruegel d. Ä.
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
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
Copy after:
Pieter Bruegel d. Ä. (um 1525/30 Breugel oder Antwerpen? - 1569 Brüssel) DNB
Attributed to:
Pieter Brueghel d. J. (fraglich) (um 1564/65 Brüssel - 1638 Antwerpen) DNB
Time:
4th Quarter of 16th Century
Object Name
Painting
Culture
Netherlandish; Flemish
Material/technology:
oak wood
Dimensions:
rechts etwas beschnitten: Overall: 116 cm × 159,7 cm × 3,5 cm
Framed: 135 cm × 178,2 cm × 6 cm
Signed
signed fragmentary at lower right: BRVEG
Copyright
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Gemäldegalerie
Invs.
Gemäldegalerie, 1024
Provenance
1610-1619 Vienna, Neue Burg; 1748 from the treasury to the gallery