Category:Massacre of the Innocents (subject)
The Massacre of the Innocents refers to an episode in the lives of Jesus of Nazareth, Mary of Nazareth and Herod the Great, narrated only in the Gospel of Matthew (Mt 2:16-18).
Overview
According to the Gospel of Matthew, when the Magi failed to report the identity of the "newborn king of the Jews" (see Adoration of the Magi), Herod the Great ordered the killing of all of all young male children at Bethlehem. The incident is interpreted as the fulfillment of a passage from Jeremiah (31:15). Jesus and his family, alerted by an angel, escaped the massacre (see Flight into Egypt).
The mid-2th century Protoevangelium of James provides a different account of the miraculous salvation of the infant Jesus and involves John the Baptist also in the story. At the beginning of the 5th century the non-Christian writer Macrobius shows how by that time the story had penetrated the culture at large; the reference to Herod killing his own son betrays the actual origins of the legend.
The historicity of the literary episode is denied by contemporary scholars. The event was inspired by Herod's notorious brutality against all those whom he perceived as a threat to his throne, including his own children (see Josephus). In the Matthew narrative, which aims to present Jesus as the new Moses, the episode is patterned on the Exodus story of the killing of the Hebrew firstborn by Pharaoh.
In Depth
- Massacre of the Innocents (sources) -- survey of ancient sources
- Massacre of the Innocents (arts) -- survey of fictional works
The Massacre of the Innocents in Fiction
The Massacre of the Innocents is a recurring subject in Christian iconography. It often includes a depiction of Herod ordering the slaughter. Neither Jesus nor members of his family are present at the scene. In the Triumph of the Innocents (1884 Hunt), art, the souls of the dead children accompany Jesus and his family in their Flight into Egypt.
Related categories
- Jesus of Nazareth / Nativity of Jesus / Adoration of the Magi / Flight into Egypt
- Mary of Nazareth / Joseph of Nazareth
- Herod the Great / Magi
- Bethlehem
External links
Pages in category "Massacre of the Innocents (subject)"
The following 23 pages are in this category, out of 23 total.
1
- Massacre of the Innocents (1306 Giotto), art
- Massacre of the Innocents (1310 Giotto), art
- Massacre of the Innocents (1311 Duccio), art
- Massacre of the Innocents (1340 Memmi), art
- Massacre of the Innocents (1452 Angelico), art
- Massacre of the Innocents (1470 Sano di Pietro), art
- Massacre of the Innocents (1488 Matteo di Giovanni), art
- Massacre of the Innocents (1490 Ghirlandaio), art
- Massacre of the Innocents (c1550 Galvano), art
- Herod (1566 Arcimboldo), art
- Massacre of the Innocents (1586 Valkenborch), art
- Herod Orders the Slaughter of the Innocents (1587 Paracca), art
- Massacre of the Innocents (1611 Reni), art
- Massacre of the Innocents (1612 Rubens), art
- Massacre of the Innocents (1628 Poussin), art
- Herodes infanticida (1632 Heinsius), play
- Massacre of the Innocents (c1720 Bambini), art
- Massacre of the Innocents (1824 Cogniet), art
- Massacre of the Innocents and Flight into Egypt (1842 Thorvaldsen), art
- Massacre of the Innocents (1861 Visconti), art
- Triumph of the Innocents (1884 Hunt), art
- La strage degli innocenti (1900 Perosi), oratorio