#massacre of the innocents

[daemonicdasein]

Bible Belt hoes really out here confusing Herod the Great and Pontius Pilate.

[pmamtraveller]

MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS | 1824 | by LÉON COGNIET

LÉON COGNIET'S painting is a powerful and intimate depiction of the biblical story of HEROD'S order to kill all male children in BETHLEHEM to avoid the loss of his throne to a newborn KING OF THE JEWS

The central figure of the painting is a terrified mother, cowering under a staircase, desperately trying to muffle the cries of her infant child. Her bare feet and head emphasize her vulnerability, and the fact that she is cornered with no apparent escape underscores the gravity of the situation. The muted colors of the mother and the ruined stairway create a solemn atmosphere, drawing the viewer's attention to the human suffering and emotion.

COGNIET'S decision to focus on the mother's anguished expression rather than the broader scene of the massacre is a deliberate choice that highlights the personal and emotional impact of the event. This approach is characteristic of ROMANTICISM, which emphasized the emotional and personal aspects of human experience.

The painting also invites the viewer to reflect on the contemporary relevance of the biblical story. The theme of religious violence and the slaughter of innocent children is a recurring motif in history, and COGNIET'S work serves as a powerful reminder of the enduring impact of such events.

Overall, "MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS" is a masterful work that combines technical skill with emotional intensity and historical significance. It is a powerful reminder of the enduring impact of the biblical story and the ongoing relevance of themes such as religious violence and the protection of the innocent.

[mando-jetiis-blog]

So I started watching Avatar the Last Airbender live action series and I was watching the start of the war.

As I watched I realised how similar the Airbenders situation was to that of the Jedi. And how they both were massacred.

The scenes of both massacres were so similar in their shared tragedy I had to pause the movie and write about it.

Because let's see:

Jedi were killed at the end of a war. The Airbenders massacred to start one.

They both were made of mostly people who are supposed to be pacifists.

And they both were brutally killed in their own home, leaving almost no survivors.

From old to masters to babies in their cribs.

Killed because of the greed of an old man.

Killed because of fear and greed and anger and violence.

[thefoolandthesaint]

Massacre of the Innocents, Hans Pleydenwurff (1420–1472)

[pepleosupremacy]

And then King Herod asked the babies, before signaling his soldiers to raise their swords

"Do you condemn Khamas?"

[notsolittlemerman]

I was originally thinking about watching The Nativity Story (2006), the Bible movie about the birth of Jesus Christ spanning from Nazareth to Bethlehem (and starring a young Oscar Isaac as Papa Joseph), this Christmas

but then... I remembered the very first scene of that movie... (the massacre of the innocents)

and knowing what's happening in that same place right now, it just feels like history repeating itself.

[mysterious-secret-garden]

Louis Finson - Massacre of the Innocents, 1615.

[nsfwbible]

The nightmare after Christmas

In the Gospel of Matthew, Herod, the Roman-appointed king of the Jews, orders the killing of all the children in Bethlehem age two or younger — his attempt to eliminate a prophesied newborn Christ. Warned by an angel, the father of the infant Jesus escapes with his family to Egypt. The account in Matthew makes no attempt to explain why God’s angel saves Jesus at the expense of so many innocent children. Just as puzzling, the other gospels make no mention of the infanticide.

Renaissance artists portrayed the Massacre of the Innocents hundreds of times, typically as a panoramic scene of mass slaughter viewed from some distance. Nicolas Poussin’s painting, from around 1625, brings the viewer uncomfortably close to the brutal slaying of a single child. The image here is a public domain scan of the painting in the Condé Museum in France.

[rossodimarte]

Giacinto Diana, The Massacre of the Innocents, 1780

[beautiful-belgium]

Willem Vrelant - The Massacre of the Innocents (1460s)

[everdeenxmellark]

scène du massacre des innocents (1824)

by léon cogniet

why do you tear from me my darling son,

the fruit of my womb?

it was i who bore him,

my breast he drank.

my womb carried him about,

my vitals he sucked,

my heart he filled.

he was my life,

‘tis death to have him taken from me.

my strength has ebbed,

my speech is silenced,

my eyes are blinded.

- the mothers lament at the slaughter of the innocents

[the-other-art-blog]

Léon Cogniet, Scene of the Massacre of the Innocents, 1824, oil on canvas, 261.3 x 228.3 cm, Museum of Fine Arts of Rennes, Rennes, France.

Today is Holy Innocents' Day, recalling the massacre ordered by Herod. So, I wanted to share this painting, cause it's such a unique take on the famous art history theme "The Massacre of the Innocents."

The paintings that I was used to seeing depicted the actual massacre. There are babies being murdered, and mothers screaming and begging, like the ones by Rubens (left) and Reni (right).

But this one offers another pov. Here is a mother hiding from the chaos as she covers her son's mouth so that they don't hear them. But she's looking at us terrified as if she fears that we are going to tell the soldiers about them.

It's terrifying.

[twobrothersatwork]

"Yet, when I cleansed you in your filthy lewdness,

you did not become clean from your filth;

you shall not again be cleansed

until I have satisfied my fury upon you.

I the Lord have spoken; the time is coming,

I will act.

I will not refrain,

I will not spare,

I will not relent.

According to your ways and your doings I will judge you, says the Lord God."

Ezekiel 24:13-14

Artwork: Giuseppe Maria Crespi (Italian, 1665 - 1747), The Massacre of the Innocents (1720s).

[scripture-pictures]

[jichanxo]

Help me, Lord, from these fantasies in my head / They ain't ever been safe ones

[nsfwbible]

The story is from the Gospel of Matthew: Herod, the Roman-appointed king of Judea, learns of the birth of a new “king of the Jews.” To eliminate this potential rival, Herod demands the killing of all children in Bethlehem age two or younger (that is, at least according to Matthew; the infanticide goes unmentioned in the other gospels).

The detail is from the sprawling cycle of frescoes at the Tornabuoni Chapel in Florence that Ghirlandaio and his many assistants painted between 1486 and 1490.

Domenico Ghirlandaio (1448 - 1494) - Slaughter of the Innocents. Detail.