Poussin's gut-wrenching Massacre of the Innocents was inspired by a story from the New Testament found in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 2: 16-18). According to the Bible, when Joseph and Mary gave birth to Jesus, it was prophesized that the child would grow up to become the King of the Jews. Three men known as the "three wise men" (or the three Magi) came to the town of Bethlehem to visit Jesus on the night of his birth, bearing symbolic gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.