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Johnny Cruz III

Dr. Wynne
ENG102
5 February 2016
Massacre of the Innocents: Genre Analysis of a Painting and a Documentary
In biblical times Herod the Great was a power hungry king of the Jews. Fearful that his
throne would be taken by another male he ordered a mass execution of all male children in the
vicinity of Bethlehem. The two genres that depict this even I chose to analyze are the painting
by Peter Paul Rubens and a documentary titled Mysteries of the bible-Herod the Great. Both
of these genres are very good in getting its point across. The genre that best portrayed the
emotions and violence of this event was the painting by Rubens.
Audience and Purpose
In the painting Massacre of the Innocents by Rubens he attempted to capture the
totality of an event in the bible. His intended audience is art lovers and people who know of the
event who may have read it in the bible. Some people may know of the event but his purpose
was to give a visual of the gruesome violence that occurred on that day. It is also attempting to
just be a visual masterpiece for those who appreciate art. This piece of art is very complex and
has a lot going on inside this painting. The audience will have to take a very good look at this to
obtain its full effect.
In the documentary is the same as the painting just might include some documentary
fans. The audience may know about the event of killing the children but this documentary goes
into depth on the character who orchestrated the entire event. Many people do not know the life
story of Herod the Great they know him from some small stories in the bible. The purpose of this
genre is too inform people on the characteristics and life of Herod the great. The documentary is

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45 minutes long and very detailed. The language in this documentary is formal because of the
seriousness of the events in Herods life. This genre get you to see the story from the other side.
The audience will learn a lot about Herod the Great and his lifestyle. This will not in any way
justify what he did to those children in Bethlehem but it will give you a perspective on this
paranoid king who wanted the throne forever. Some people may not know he was one of the
greatest builders in history. It is similar in the painting because its main focus is the same event
but the documentary takes a different approach to better explain Herod the Great.
Both of these genres have very similar audiences but have different purposes. The
painting captures the event of the massacre only while the documentary goes through Herods
entire life. The painting is trying to get an emotional response by depicting the killing of innocent
children while their mothers were fighting to save their children. The documentary is trying to
inform the audience of the story behind the murderous Herod the Great.
Rhetorical Issues: Ethos, Pathos and Logos
The painting evokes a powerful emotional response. The killing of infants and children is
very taboo. This artist was daring enough to not sugar coat the event but paint it as if he was
there. There are infants laying on the ground with a pale blue complexion after being strangled
or smashed into the ground. When I first saw this I was angry at the person who ordered this
massacre and felt sadness seeing these dead children. The artist uses colors such as dark red
and shadows to portray the dark, gloomy tone of the painting. The majority of the paintings
credibility comes from the bible. It helps get its purpose to the audience because they can see
the story in the bible and see that its a credible story.
The documentary establishes its credibility by using qualified professionals such as
historians to inform the audience on the life of Herod. This ensures that the audience will believe
the information because it comes from a professional in the field. This genre attempts to get the

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audience to understand Herod the Great. They explain how he is one of the greatest builders of
all time. His most famous project was the Second Temple in Jerusalem. It is successful in
helping people think of Herod the great as something other than a psychotic killer. It portrays
him as a great leader and warrior. Some evidence the genre uses are documents from the time
period which Herod lived and also some of his architectural feats that are still here today.
These different genres attempt to evoke emotions from their audiences in different ways.
The painting is attempting to get the audience to feel sadness and hatred towards Herod the
Great while the documentary is trying to make the audience relate with Herod. The documentary
uses images and documents to reinforce the acheivements of Herod the great .
Structure and Delivery
The painting is very limited due to its amount of space. The genre is attempting to
portray an entire event on one small canvas. Although it has these limitations it is successful in
delivering an image of the massacre. The painter organizes this painting as a type or organized
chaos. It seems he purposely made it a chaotic seen to help the audience feel emotion. There is
a cluster of warriors attempting to kill children, mothers reaching out or their sons, and some
other citizens attempting to put a halt to this tragic event.
In the other genre its message has a lot of freedom. The documentary is 45 minutes
long and can include pretty much any type of visuals such as pictures, graphs, and video clips.
The documentary is organized in chronological order o Herods li e. This supports the purpose
of helping the audience relate to Herod by explaining his lie story. This documentary uses
images and glorious background music to help develop the character of Herod.
Both of the genres use multiple structural techniques to reach the audience. The painting
is very limited in the amount of information it can include while the documentary has a lot of
freedom. Although the painting is very limited it still is successful in using its space. The

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documentary has a lot of freedom and it uses a majority of it with pictures and graphics to
provide visuals.

Conclusion/Synthesis
As I stated in my thesis the painting is the most effective genre in portraying the event.
Although the documentary is very detailed and explains Herods life up to the massacre it lacks
the visual that sparks so many emotions and feeling that really makes you feel as If you are
there. The documentary overall is more informative but the painting has a stronger emotional
message then the documentary does.

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Works Cited
"Peter Paul Rubens: Massacre of the Innocents." ArtBible.info. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb.
2016.
"Mysteries of the Bible - Herod the Great." YouTube. YouTube, 16 Sept. 2014. Web. 05
Feb. 2016.