The Massacre of the Innocents

A drawing copied from a fragment of a preparatory cartoon for the three-panel tapestry of 'The Massacre of the Innocents' now in the Vatican Museums. The original fragment is currently part of the collection of the Foundling Museum, London. Pasted to a backing sheet bearing pencil annotations recording that the drawing was executed by Lady Abercromby and presented to Queen Victoria by Lady Ersoll (?) in 1874. Not in Ruland (1876). According to an undated and unsigned note on the master copy of Ruland's catalogue, the drawing was presented to Queen Victoria by Lady Abercromby herself at an unspecified date.

The tapestry of 'The Massacre of the Innocents' is part of a twelve-piece set depicting scenes from the Life of Christ traditionally known as ‘Scuola Nuova’ (eleven of which survive today in the Vatican Museums). The project was probably commissioned by Pope Leo X, but it 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.