Reliëf, Maasland Panel “Massacre of the Innocents” Exceptional Large Example – 61 cm – Pear

Material: Pearwood (Perenhout)Origin: Mechelen or Maasland region, Southern NetherlandsPeriod: 1600-1650 / 17th centuryDimensions: 71 × 61 cm (unusually large)Condition: Excellent for age, rich patinaDescriptionThis remarkably detailed pearwood relief panel represents a rare and unusually large depiction of the Massacre of the Innocents, carved in the Mechelen or broader Maasland tradition during the first half of the 17th century. Measuring 71 × 61 cm, it is significantly larger than the typical domestic-scale devotional panels of the region, placing it among the more impressive surviving examples of its type.Executed in high relief, the composition is densely populated with figures, each carved with remarkable vitality and emotional intensity. Families flee in panic, infants are lifted or protected, and soldiers force women and children deeper into the marshy, reed-filled landscape, an iconographic deviation from the usual urban setting of this Biblical scene.This unique environmental context is one of the panel’s most striking features. Instead of the well-known city of Bethlehem, the sculptor sets the drama within a moist, rural terrain, complete with reeds, flowing vegetation, and animals moving among the chaos. Such a choice likely reflects local storytelling traditions in the Southern Netherlands, where Biblical narratives were often reimagined to resonate with regional landscapes... lees verder bij Catawiki