Peter Paul Rubens - Massacre of the Innocents 1611
Massacre of the Innocents 1611
142x182cm oil/canvas
Sold for: USD 76.7 million
Auction house: Sotheby's in London
Sale date: 10 July 2002
Seller: an Austrian family
Buyer: Canadian businessman and art collector Kenneth Thomson
The Massacre of the Innocents is the subject of two paintings by Peter Paul Rubens depicting the episode of the biblical Massacre of the Innocents of Bethlehem, as related in the Gospel of Matthew, Ch.2, vs.13-18. The first, measuring 142 x 182 cm, was painted after his return to his native Antwerp in 1608, following eight years spent in Italy.