Framed Massacre of the Innocents by Peter Paul Rubens

The Massacre of the Innocents by Peter Paul Rubens is a dramatic Baroque masterpiece that depicts the biblical slaughter of Bethlehem’s children ordered by King Herod. With Rubens’s signature dynamism, the canvas erupts in chaos—soldiers twist and strain with muscular force as mothers desperately struggle to shield their infants. The diagonal thrusts of bodies, the violent contrasts of light and shadow, and the raw physicality of the figures heighten the sense of brutality and desperation. Rather than presenting the scene as distant history, Rubens immerses the viewer directly in the terror and grief, transforming the biblical tragedy into a timeless meditation on violence, cruelty, and human suffering.