The Massacre of the Innocents

A chiaroscuro woodcut reproducing the composition of the 'The Massacre of the Innocents', a three-panel tapestry from 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). Lettered with attribution of the design to Raphael. Dated: 1544, and signed with woodcutter's monogram at lower right on small block: NDB (see Nagler, IV, no.2372; both barely legible).The left-hand section of the woodcut shows the design in reverse direction to the orientation of the tapestry.

The ‘Scuola Nuova’ set of tapestries 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.