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Attributed to French School, 16th century

The Massacre of the Innocents 1560 - 1600

Oil on canvas | 100.0 x 138.7 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 402674

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  • This is probably the ‘murder of the innocents’ recorded in 1688 in the Queen’s Bedchamber at Windsor Castle (no 772). A work of this subject hung in this position throughout the following century, often described as an overdoor and acquiring, in the inventories of 1750 and 1776, an attribution to Giulio Romano. According to a label on the reverse RCIN 402674 was moved from Windsor Castle on 25 April 1832; it is certainly the work listed in 1861 in the Prince of Wales’s Drawing Room at Hampton Court with an attribution to Mignard (no 1115). Giulio Romano to Pierre Mignard offers a generous range of possibilities, even by the standards of historical attributions. Though obviously not by Giulio Romano, this does seem the closer suggestion: the architectural setting and figures style all belong to the language of Italian Mannerism, which was widely adopted in the second half of the 16th century, especially in France. Mignard’s name would seem to have arisen because of a superficial similarity with the violent crowd scenes of Nicolas Poussin. The best guess until further research can be undertaken is that this is a French work of the late 16th century.

    Provenance

    First recorded in the Queen’s Bedchamber at Windsor Castle in 1688.

  • Creator(s)
    Previously attributed to (artist)
  • Medium and techniques

    Oil on canvas

    Measurements

    100.0 x 138.7 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)

  • Category
    Object type(s)

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