The Infanticide in Bethlehem, Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem, 1590 oil on canvas, h 245cm × w 385cm.
When Herod, the king of Judea, hears that a child has been born in Bethlehem who will become king of the Jews, he decides to have all the little boys under the age of two killed. The painter has depicted the massacre as a wild nightmare. Horror follows horror: on the left, a soldier cuts a child's neck; behind, a woman scratches out a soldier's eyes.
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