Fotoreproductie van een schilderij van de Bartholomeüsnacht door Paul Delaroche before 1858

This is Robert Jefferson Bingham's photographic reproduction of Paul Delaroche's painting on the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. The horror of religious conflict is rendered through the victims sprawled in the street. Consider the symbol of the massacre itself. This echoes through history: massacres depicted in ancient Roman art, the slaughter of innocents, and even modern-day conflicts. The repetition of such scenes reveals a disturbing continuity in human behavior, a collective memory of violence. The emotional resonance of these images taps into a deep-seated fear and revulsion. We see the trauma of such events, not just in the historical context of 16th-century France, but as a recurring motif in the theater of human cruelty. This symbol of violence is not static, though; it evolves, reflecting changing cultural attitudes. Each time it resurfaces, it carries the weight of past atrocities.