Massacre of the Innocents by Max Ernst, collage, 1921.

We can clearly see Ernst’s reaction to the war which was raging in Europe at the time. The figure of Icarus falling towards earth is seen in the top left. Both the Icarus imagery and the title suggest the notion of betrayal by the father, which is a clear reference to the overwhelming mindset of the surrealists during the wars. The base of the collage is aerial photographs of Soissons, which was heavily damaged during the war. The vertical pieces that look like railway tracks are actually the facades of buildings lying on their sides, as if razed to the ground. The human figures, which are normally the most expressive parts of a photo or painting, are reduced to mere cyphers. Also, the perspective of the image has a powerful dream-like quality that recalls those nightmares of endless falling, with the dreamer powerless to intervene.