Giordano’s Massacre of the Innocents stands out in Dorotheum’s October Old Masters sale
The newly published catalogue for the Vienna auction on 21 October includes an impressive Luca Giordano and a newly attributed Saint Jerome by Hendrick de Somer.
Dorotheum has published its catalogue for the Old Masters sale on 21 October 2026, as always with some big name attributions by Perugino, Guido Reni and Bernardo Bellotto among the highlights. Arguably the most compelling picture, however, is Luca Giordano’s monumental 'Massacre of the Innocents', estimated at €400,000-600,000.
The large canvas, measuring 166 × 208.5 cm, is an extraordinary example of Giordano’s theatrical Baroque painting. Its violent, densely populated composition owes much to Rubens, particularly his treatment of the same subject, while its rich colouring and restless movement reveal the influence of Venetian painting.
The picture also has a distinguished history. Possibly commissioned by Francesco Marino Caracciolo, 4th Prince of Avellino, around 1668-70, it was recorded in the princely collection in 1801 and subsequently passed into the Carignani collection in Naples. It featured in the major Giordano retrospective of 2001, shown in Naples, Vienna and Los Angeles, and is well documented in the artist’s literature.
Another particularly interesting inclusion is a newly attributed Saint Jerome by Hendrick de Somer (1602-c.1655/56), the Flemish-born painter who worked in Naples under the name Enrico Fiammingo.
The attribution, proposed by Riccardo Lattuada following examination of the original and independently supported by Yuri Primarosa, brings a further work into the growing catalogue of this important follower of Jusepe de Ribera. The closely observed figure, emerging from darkness into warm light, is characteristic of the more intimate naturalism Somer developed during his maturity.
Estimated at €30,000-40,000, the painting has reportedly remained in a private European collection since around 1950.
Both works offer particularly interesting examples of seventeenth-century Neapolitan painting, from Somer’s restrained Caravaggesque naturalism to the exuberant theatricality of Giordano.
Dorotheum, Old Masters, Vienna, 21 October 2026.
