School of Nicolas Poussin - Massacre of the Innocents (recto); Figure Sketches (verso) | Area Rug

This double-sided sheet is catalogued as School of Nicolas Poussin: a composition study of the Massacre of the Innocents in pen and ink on the recto, with additional figure sketches on the verso, drawn by a follower working in Poussin's manner rather than by Poussin himself. The subject, Herod's slaughter of the infants of Bethlehem described in the Gospel of Matthew, was one Poussin treated in a celebrated painting of his own, now in the Musée Condé at Chantilly, and its dramatic violence and classical figure grouping made it a popular subject for study among his circle. Two-sided sheets like this one give a rare glimpse into the exploratory process behind Baroque history painting. It is held in the Art Institute of Chicago's Leonora Hall Gurley Memorial Collection.

Printed edge to edge on a soft, durable woven area rug with a comfortable, non-slip feel.