Massacre of the Innocents
Léon Cogniet
1794-1880
Musee des Beaux
Arts, Rennes
Read: Matthew
2.16
When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men,
he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and
around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time
that he had learned from the wise men.
The pictures
of the Massacre of the Innocents which we saw yesterday and the day before
focus on the gory brutality of the event. This picture, by the Parisian painter
Léon Cogniet, portrays its emotional force. It is as if the mother and child
hiding behind the wall are begging us
not to draw attention to them. We can see why. In the background a woman
carrying two children runs headlong down some stairs, chased by a soldier. It seems
unlikely they will escape but perhaps the child we see will go unnoticed. His
mother has her hand over his mouth to stop him making a noise. He is looking at
us, confused and frightened.
The story of this terrible massacre highlights the price that is often
paid by children caught up in the crossfire of adult conflicts, and the mother
and child in Cogniet’s picture could be any of the refugees we have seen this
year fleeing across the Mediterranean in flimsy boats. Will we save them, this
picture asks, or will we allow them to die?
- Can you recall times in your childhood when you were unable to understand what was happening around you? Can you remember how that felt?
- Look at the children you see around you today? What might they be having to deal with in their lives?
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