massacre of the innocent
...er son, Jesus. Color plays a very important part in the composition of this painting as well. For example, two figures stand in the very front of the foreground, wearing bright blue and brilliant yellow clothing. De Rosa paid close attention to the details in the ruffles of the woman’s dress, while at the same time the paint of the shirt in order to emphasize the differences in textures. Because of their strong and striking colors, these two figures seem to be the most important, when in reality, the main subjects are supposed to be Mary and her son, Jesus. Another example of the importance of color in this painting would be the infants. Those who have been killed have a greenish, chalky, washed out color to them, whereas the babies who are still alive have a warmer tone, with many pink, peach and coral tones to their skin. The deep reds, which were meant to represent blood, obviously hold some importance This painting was meant to thoroughly involve the viewer on a number of levels. We are meant to behave not only passive, severed spectators of this event, but also as actors who are fully involved in every action that we see taking place on the canvas. We are also meant to be engaged not only physically, but also psychologically as well. The terrified, hopeless and grieving expressions that we see on the women’s f...