The Massacre of the Innocents

A photograph of a drawing now in the Teylers Museum, Haarlem (inv. no.A 85 a). Apart from a few details, it corresponds with one of the panels forming the Scuola Nuova tapestry of 'The Massacre of the Innocents', generally thought to have been designed by Giulio Romano, now in the Vatican Museums. Both the authorship of the Teylers drawing and its role have been questioned, with some scholars considering it a modello prepared by Penni after designs by Giulio and others regarding it as a copy. The ‘Scuola Nuova’ set was probably commissioned by Pope Leo X, but the project seems to have been reactivated by Clement VII after his election as pope in 1523. Apparently designed by Raphael’s former assistants after the death of the master (perhaps incorporating some models by Raphael himself), the tapestries were woven in the Brussels workshop of Pieter van Aelst and completed by 1531, when the set was delivered to Rome. Ruland (1876) seemed to accept the view that the ‘Scuola Nuova’ set was a gift to Leo X from Francis I on the occasion of the canonization of Francesco di Paola in 1519. For further discussion, see Bibliographic References.