Massacre of the Innocents by Pieter Bruegel Card

Massacre of the Innocents by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, c. 1565, is an oil and egg tempera painting on wood depicting the story from the Nativity of Christ of Herod’s edict to kill the young children of Bethlehem. A brigade of soldiers rides into town, ransacking from house to house and killing in the streets while parents and townspeople rush to protect their children. Bruegel chose the setting and details of the snowy, panoramic landscape from his own time instead of the ancient world, the figures of many people and animals starkly silhouetted against bright snow. Pieter Bruegel (Brueghel) the Elder (c. 1525 - 1569) was a Dutch/Flemish painter and printmaker of the Northern Renaissance. Among the first artists to incorporate subject matter from landscape and the life of common people, Bruegel all but invented the art of Dutch genre painting. Bruegel painted a number of religious works but is best known for his lively, allegorical paintings of peasants and witty commentary and on life, sin and virtue. His innovative compositions and carefully observed, realistic details influenced many generations of artists, from Rembrandt through the Realists of the modern era.