Massacre of the Innocents (detail)Bonanno Pisano

This bronze panel from the Porta di San Ranieri (c. 1180) by Bonanno Pisano depicts the biblical Massacre of the Innocents. King Herod sits under an arch, issuing the brutal command, while a soldier executes the order, surrounded by anguished mothers and slain infants. The stark composition powerfully conveys the violence and grief. The door, which originally stood on the south transept of Pisa Cathedral, survived the 1595 fire and is now housed in the museum.