The Massacre of the Innocents
by DANIELE da Volterra, Oil on wood, 51 x 42 cm
This panel was painted in 1557 for the church of San Pietro in Volterra.
Best known as the man who painted loincloths on Michelangelo’s Sistine nudes at papal insistence, Daniele here delivered a nightmare scene in a very classically composed fashion. The central axis, recalling the construction of some of Raphael’s frescoes in the Vatican, draws the eye deep into the dreadful space.