_Girolamo Mocetto_ (Venetian: worked 1484-1514).
Mocetto was a native of Verona, but a pupil of Giovanni Bellini
at Venice. He was "one of the earliest," says Lanzi (ii. 167),
"and least polished among Bellini's disciples." And it is
interesting to contrast the accomplished and beautiful work of
the master (1233) with the almost ludicrous imperfections of
these two pictures by the pupil. Notice especially the absurd
attitude of the attendant to the left, in 1239; and in 1240,
the expression of grief in the mother. Mocetto's claim to
distinction rests rather on his rare engravings, executed from
the designs of Giovanni Bellini and Mantegna. He "was also the
painter of the great window in the church of SS. Giovanni e
Paolo (Venice), which, although badly restored, still remains
a magnificent work" (Layard, i. 332).
These works probably formed the wings of a triptych. In the former
scene Herod directs the massacre which has already begun; in the
second, the massacre is at its height.