cat008 (Master ND 7333)

Master ND

(fl c. 1520−50)

After Giulio Romano

(?1499−1546)

The Massacre of the Innocents

1544

Chiaroscuro woodcut, 292 × 510 mm

Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest 7333

Colour, so-called chiaroscuro woodcuts printed from several woodblocks were extremely popular in the period. Among the few surviving works of the Bolognese woodcutter, known only after his monogram and active in the French royal court at Fontainebleau, The Massacre of the Innocents is the most ambitious. It is related to the tapestry series Life of Christ. While Raphael is named as inventor in the inscription, the composition was more possibly designed by Giulio Romano.

chiaroscuro woodcut, Giulio Romano, Master ND, print