Massacre of the Innocents
Théodore Rousseau (1812 - 1867), 1847
oil on canvas, 95 cm x 146.5 cm
Credits: The Mesdag Collection, The Hague
Mesdag owned many forest scenes by the French artist Théodore Rousseau. Of them, the Massacre of the Innocents is one of the most exceptional. The title suggests a gory history painting, but Rousseau’s ‘slaughter’ was the felling of a stand of trees. With some effort the woodchoppers can be discerned sawing the trees and hanging from ropes.
Théodore Rousseau was a leading figure in the Barbizon School . This group of artists preferred working in the Forest of Fontainebleau, some 50 kilometres south of Paris. This ancient royal hunting ground had always remained unspoiled.
The work’s sketchiness appealed greatly to Mesdag. He was very partial to studies and sketches that clearly reflected the artist’s own handwriting.
- Object number
- hwm0293
- Dimensions
- 95 cm x 146.5 cm, 145 cm x 196 cm, 15 cm
- Provenance
- Acquired from the artist, Paris, by Hector Brame, Paris, 1866; sold by Sedelmeyer, Paris to Boussod, Valadon & Cie, Paris for FRF 8000, 4 February 1890; sold by Boussod, Valadon & Cie, The Hague (no. 20319, Le massacre des innocents) to Hendrik Willem Mesdag, The Hague for NLG .000, 6 March 1890; Collection Museum Mesdag donated by Hendrik Willem Mesdag and Sientje Mesdag-van Houten to the State of the Netherlands, 14 May 1903; Rijksmuseum H.W. Mesdag, The Hague, from 1 August 1903; in trust of the Mauritshuis, The Hague, between 1934 and 1990; in trust of the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, Amsterdam, from 1 April 1990; Museum Mesdag, in trust of the Van Gogh Museum Foundation, Amsterdam, from 1 July 1994, under the name of De Mesdag Collectie from 2011.
- artist
- Théodore Rousseau
- Credits
- The Mesdag Collection, The Hague
Paris, Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, Théodore Rousseau. The revelation of nature., 5 March-7 July 2024
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