Request to view

This object can be requested via email from the Prints & Drawings Study Room

Image of Gallery in South Kensington

The Massacre of the Innocents

Print
ca. 1490-1534 (engraved), 1760-1869 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Raimondi, Marcantonio (engraver)
Raphael (artist)
Dente, Marco (Da Ravenna) (engraver)
Pencz, Georg (engraver)
Place of origin
Italy (made)

The Massacre of the Innocents. Townscape in the background with two sides joined by an aqueduct, the left side intact, the right side in ruins. To the right of the background are fir trees. In the foreground a group of women and infants are being attacked by men (nude) with swords. These include to the left a woman crouching over a dead infant, two infants lie on the ground, foreground centre a women runs directly towards the viewer clutching an infant and to the right a kneeling woman holding an infant in her right hand has her left hand outstretched towards her attacker.

Object details

Categories
Prints
Religion
Christianity
Object type
Print
TitleThe Massacre of the Innocents
Materials and techniques
Engraving on wove paper
Printing Ink
Wove Paper
Engraving
Brief description
The Massacre of the Innocents from a design by Raphael. Engraving printed on wove paper. This version 'with the chicot' (fir tree). Engraver Marcantonio Raimondi. Italian; this a late impression late 18th or early 19th century.
Physical description
The Massacre of the Innocents. Townscape in the background with two sides joined by an aqueduct, the left side intact, the right side in ruins. To the right of the background are fir trees. In the foreground a group of women and infants are being attacked by men (nude) with swords. These include to the left a woman crouching over a dead infant, two infants lie on the ground, foreground centre a women runs directly towards the viewer clutching an infant and to the right a kneeling woman holding an infant in her right hand has her left hand outstretched towards her attacker.
Dimensions
  • Trimmed height: 277mm
  • Trimmed width: 426mm
Style
Italian School
Marks and inscriptions
RAPH. / URBI. / INVE / .M. (on stone plinth in background to the left, the M is a combined M and A with cross bar across second part of the M.)
Credit line
Bequeathed by Rev. Alexander Dyce
Production
a closer look at the paper revealed that it is wove, therefore this a later impression after 1760 and before Alexander Dyce (the collector) died in 1869;
see References for attribution doubts
Subject depicted
Massacre of the Innocents
Associated object
DYCE.1909 (Version)
Bibliographic references
  • DYCE COLLECTION. A Catalogue of the Paintings, Miniatures, Drawings, Engravings, Rings and Miscellaneous Objects Bequeathed by The Reverend Alexander Dyce. London : South Kensington Museum : Printed by G.E. Eyre and W. Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1874.
  • Getscher, Robert H. 'The "Massacre of the Innocents," an Early Work Engraved by Marcantonio', in Artibus et Historiae. Vol. 20, No. 39 (1999), pp. 95-111.
  • Bartsch, Adam. Le Peintre graveur. Vol. XIV, p. 19, No. 18.
  • Delaborde, Henri . Marc-Antoine Raimondi. p. 90, No. 8, second state.
  • Passavant, J. D. Le Peintre graveur. Vol. IV, p. 101.
  • Hind, Arthur M. 'Marcantonio Raimondi', in The Print-Collector's Quarterly. Vol. III (1913), p. 271.
  • Francis, Henry S. 'Two Versions of the "Massacre of the Innocents" by Marcantonio Raimondi', in The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Vol. 25, No. 9 (Nov., 1938), pp. 165-167,171.
  • Pezzinni, Grazia Bernini et. al. Raphael Invenit: Stampe Da Raffaello Nelle Collezioni Dell'Instituto Nazionale Per La Grafica.
  • Bianchi, Lidia. Essay in Salmi, Mario et. al. Raffaello. L'opera, le fonti, la fortuna.. Novara. Istituto geografico De Agostini, 1968. Vol II, p. 659, 655.
Other number
18 - Le Peintre-Graveur
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
DYCE.1005

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdJanuary 11, 2010
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1152932/the-massacre-of-the-innocents-print-raimondi-marcantonio/
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest