The Massacre of the Innocents

Sano di Pietro's Massacre of the Innocents from around 1470 depicts Herod's slaughter of the male infants in Bethlehem in his attempt to eliminate the prophesied Messiah. The scene, with its dramatic possibilities for depicting violence, grief, and maternal anguish, had been treated by Sienese painters since the Trecento, and Sano di Pietro's version works within this established local tradition while adding specific details of costume and setting that give the ancient narrative a Sienese visual presence. His flat gold grounds and elegant Gothic figures maintain the visual vocabulary of Duccio's generation in a period when Florentine painters were constructing illusionistic space, a choice that reflected both conservative patronage preferences and the genuine belief that the Sienese tradition embodied sacred dignity.

Sano di Pietro's tempera on wood creates rich, jewel-like colors that maintain decorative beauty even in depicting violence. The composition arranges the chaotic scene with clear narrative structure, while the precise, linear drawing and flat color areas maintain the Sienese Gothic tradition's emphasis on pattern and surface beauty.