Massacre of the Innocents
Niccolò di Segna·1330
Historical Context
The Massacre of the Innocents by Niccolò di Segna, dated to around 1330 and located in Santa Maria dei Servi in Siena, depicts the biblical account of King Herod's slaughter of infant boys in Bethlehem. Niccolò di Segna was the son and principal follower of Segna di Bonaventura, himself a pupil of Duccio, making Niccolò a third-generation representative of the Duccesque tradition in Siena. The harrowing subject was popular in Gothic art for its emotional intensity and its typological connection to Christ's own future suffering.
Technical Analysis
Executed in egg tempera on panel, the work follows the conservative Duccesque idiom of linear elegance and gold ground that characterized the more traditional wing of the Sienese school. The composition crowds multiple figures into a shallow space, using dramatic gestures and anguished expressions to convey the horror of the scene.
