The Massacre of the Innocents 1629

Editor: Here we have Nicolas Poussin’s "The Massacre of the Innocents," painted in 1629 and housed in the Musée Condé. I'm struck by how violently Baroque it is – a pure, unfiltered scream on canvas. The composition feels incredibly tight, almost claustrophobic, intensifying the emotional impact. What really stands out to you in this piece? Curator: You nailed it with “scream,” which vibrates from the theatrical lighting that blasts the foreground figures. Notice the stark contrast of the cold stone architecture in the background - a stage setting for this raw human drama, a history painting rendered as pure sensation. It's so unsettling to me: what about you, any colours grab you particularly, and what's their relationship to emotion? Editor: The intense reds and blues! The murderer’s cloak and the woman’s dress. They seem to amplify the chaos, clashing violently, a kind of visual shout. Is Poussin trying to say something about the colours and emotions themselves? Curator: Precisely! Baroque loved this—drama heightened through light and color. Poussin understood that tension implicitly. It’s not just showing history, it's creating an experience for the viewer, meant to provoke—I feel both horrified, yet also bizarrely, moved to see the drama unfolding through pure chromatic intensity, almost like the figures are consumed by passion, however awful its results. You think we should put that in the guide? Editor: Absolutely! That really sums it up, the disturbing beauty of it all. Curator: Yeah! We often turn to art for solace, but I appreciate it when someone turns that expectation upside down. Makes you look twice at both beauty and brutality.