Getty Museum

A Massacre of Family Members

Date: about 1460–1470
Medium: Tempera colors, gold leaf, gold paint, and ink
Culture: French
Department: Manuscripts
Institution: Getty Museum
Object ID: e3200e94-b455-4676-b607-7379bec1ef79

From the Getty Museum record

This miniature shows one of the possible harsh realities of court life: family members being killed in a struggle for power. With a remarkable flair for drama, the artist repeated the horror of murder using three different means. Freshly beheaded corpses lie in a gruesome heap in the foreground. Another man, probably the brother of the slain, is being blindfolded in preparation for his turn on the chopping block. From the window above the executioner and the men who ordered the killings observe the grisly scene. A man about to be drowned at the left and an unfortunate man hanging from the gallows in the background illustrate other means of execution.

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