The Most Expensive Painting In Canada

The Massacre of the Innocents, by Peter Paul Rubens is the most expensive painting ever bought by a Canadian. It was bought by Kenneth Thomson in 2002 for 117 million dollars. Thomson donated it to the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. I've been fortunate to have seen it a few times on person. It is in a darkened room with no other paintings to divert your attention. Canada has a thriving art scene, and many people are unaware of the many masterpieces that Canada contains.

The painting depicts a biblical story in which soldiers are massacring children on Herod's orders. Herod wanted the children killed in order to kill Jesus as a baby. He heard that Jesus was born to be the King, so he attempted to kill him by killing all very young children in the area. A very disturbing topic for a painting to be sure. The looks of horror and anguish on the faces of the mothers is very powerful. Viewing this painting fills you with emotion, and the power of the narrative is the greatest strength of it.

Copy of painting from artmatters.ca