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The Massacre of the Innocents
This superb large plate depicting the Gospel episode of the Massacre of the Innocents shows Francesco Xanto Avelli's inventiveness at its most successful. Xanto's main models for this istoriato work were the two most famous prints of the massacre at the time: one designed by Raphael, the other by Baccio Bandinelli. Seamlessly combining both figures and architectural elements from the two large engravings here exhibited, Xanto also added individual figures from at least three other engravings. The considerable size of the printed models must have also influenced the ambitious scale of the plate, which is one of Xanto's early masterpieces. |