The Massacre of the Innocents

The print with the scene The Massacre of the Innocents is among the most widely known Renaissance graphic works and Raphael’s very famous composition. Raimondi created two versions of it, the one on display being an impression of the so-called version without the pine (upper right), which is generally perceived as Marcantonio’s authentic work. The sign of the publisher and the dating, situated bottom left – „In Roma presso Carlo Losi 1773“ -, testifies that the sheet was being printed from the original plate up to the late 18th century. The heavily worn off matrix, however, has already lost most of the details, which merely results in a very light impression that lacks any tonality. The work is presented here to exemplify the immense popularity of prints by Raimondi - his plates were used for as long as possible and even these low-quality impressions were offered for sale. The National Gallery in Prague unfortunately does not own a quality impression of the print.