Exhibition tells tale of Emperor who painted over a massacre

The history of a Flemish masterpiece, once censored to save the blushes of the Holy Roman Emperor, is being told in a new exhibition.

The Queen's Gallery, which mounts exhibitions of work from the Royal Collection, is unveiling the story of The Massacre Of The Innocents by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

The 16th century work depicts a biblical massacre of children as a contemporary political attack. Bruegel, working when the Low Countries were under assault from Spain, paints the attacking troops as Spanish. But when the work was acquired by Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, who was related to King Philip II of Spain, experts believe he had the slaughtered babies painted over. Desmond Shawe-Taylor, Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, said: "He probably thought, 'I don't particularly like my cousin's troops massacring people.'"

The exhibition puts The Massacre in the context of the great period of Flemish painting that started with Bruegel the Elder (c1525-1569).

* Bruegel to Rubens: Masters of Flemish Painting opens at the Queen's Gallery, next to Buckingham Palace next Friday. With admission charge.