Studien zum Kindermord in Bethlehem 

Paolo Farinati rendered these studies for the Massacre of the Innocents with pen and brown ink in the 16th century. In this collection of sketches, the figures in motion convey the raw terror and brutality of the biblical event. Notice the repeated motif of the mother clutching her child, a symbol of the primal bond facing unimaginable threat. This echoes across centuries, from ancient depictions of mourning figures to modern war photography. Consider how the Italian Renaissance reinterprets classical gestures of grief, amplifying emotional intensity. The soldier’s raised sword, a symbol of power and death, finds its counterpart in countless battle scenes throughout art history. It's a visual shorthand for violence, stirring deep-seated fears and anxieties. These motifs tap into a collective memory, a shared understanding of human suffering that transcends time. It speaks to our deepest fears, engaging viewers on a subconscious level with the horror of infanticide. The cyclical recurrence of these symbols demonstrates how primal emotions resurface, transformed yet fundamentally unchanged, in each new era.