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 with archival giclée inks on smooth, acid-free 220 gsm gallery-grade fine-art paper; available in multiple sizes.
