Karel van Mander (Attr.), the Infanticide in Bethlehem, oil on canvas, Late 16thC, 118 x 190 cm The Biblical Story: King Herod heard from the wise men from the east that a king of the Jews was about to be born. The wise men said they were led by a star. Herod ordered the wise men to find the child and inform him so that he too might pay tribute. The wise men were warned in a dream not to return to Herod on the night they visited the baby Jesus. They returned to their country by a different route. When Herod saw that he had been misled by the wise men from the east, he sent men to kill all the boys two years old and younger. Biogaphy: Karel van Mander (Meulebeke, Flanders 1548 - Amsterdam, 1606) was one of the most important painters and theoreticians who introduced Romanism and Mannerism to the Low Countries. Around 1573 Van Mander left for Italy. He worked in Florence with Vasari on the dome fresco of the Duomo and in Terni he painted in the Palazzo Spada. He then settled in Rome for more than three years. There he befriended Bartholomeus Spranger and was influenced by him. In 1577 he accepted the retreat. He carried out another assignment in the cemetery of Krems an der Donau and with his compatriot Hans Mont he made triumphal arches for the entry of Emperor Rudolf II into Vienna. The reformist Van Mander settled in Haarlem in 1583. He would live and work there for twenty years. He had an 'academy' there with Cornelis van Haarlem and Hendrick Goltzius, presumably a small study club where naked models were drawn, which was actually forbidden at the time. Van Mander had brought this practice from Italy and introduced it to the Netherlands for the first time, although female nude models remained taboo in both countries. The education of the academy was aimed at fellow art lovers who wanted to practice after the male model outside the guild. They also exchanged their views on art, mainly on Mannerism. Descriptif: The painting 'The Infanticide at Bethlehem' is a fine example of romanism and mannerism. The allegorical figure in the front left calls us to witness this drama and introduces us to the tragic and gruesome story of infanticide. The mobility of horses and riders, the chaos and panic that arise among the mothers who want to secure their children are translated in the global composition with composition schemes that are typical of the Florentine High Renaissance: triangular and circular compositions, diagonal construction, rhythmic and contrasting use of colour indebted to Giorgio Vasari, Guido Reni and Paolo Veronese. Surprising raccourci's (shortened perspectives), dramatic expression and the bravado of gesture, psychology and the schemes of moving lines and tonalized use of colour nevertheless bring a balance to this unrest and chaos. The painting closes on the right with a crouching man with a child on his lap, who is hiding behind a rock. There are only some thirty paintings that can be attributed to Karel Van Mander, so this painting is quite rare. The horizontal register (1/3 figures and 2/3 landscape and sky) and the monumental size of the painting(1.90 x 118 cm) and the moderate mannerism of certain figures can be found back in similar paintings by Van Mander (The Generosity of Scipio, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam and The dance around the golden calf, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem).