3-056-702 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Massacre of the Innocents, c1350. Biblical scene. At the feet of the soldiers are the bodies of the children they have slaughtered. One soldier holds above his head a boy he is about to kill. On the right a soldier holds a child's severed head, and behind him are two grieving mothers. The Massacre (or Slaughter) of the Innocents is a story recounted in the Nativity narrative of the Gospel of Matthew (2:16-18) in which Herod the Great, king of Judea, orders the execution of all male children who are two years old and under in the vicinity of Bethlehem. The massacre was an attempt to kill Christ 'the king of the Jews', shortly after his birth.