''The Continence of Scipio'' is an oil on canvas painting by

Nicolas Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was a French painter who was a leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythologic ...

, from 1640. It is held in the

Pushkin Museum The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (, abbreviated as , ''GMII'') is the largest museum of European art in Moscow. It is located in Volkhonka street, just opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The International musical festival Sviatos ...

, in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

History

It was commissioned by Abbé Gian Maria Roscioli, secretary to

Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII (; ; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death, in July 1644. As pope, he expanded the papal terri ...

. It changed owners several times, reaching the Walpole collection in the first half of the 18th century, from which it was bought for the

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and holds the large ...

Catherine the Great Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

in 1779. It was reassigned to the

in 1930, where it remains. Кузнецова, 1982, с. 169, № 1048; Кузнецова и Шарнова, 2001, с. 200, № 181. The painting is based on the historical continence of Scipio.

Description

This picture is composed twelve figures, representing the noble Roman, clad in a vesture and a red mantle, seated on an elevation at the side, extending his hand apparently addressing the young Carthaginian, who with his affianced bride is standing before him: the former is bowing, gratefully acknowledging his generosity and justice, and the latter is seen in a front view, with two young women suitably attired standing behind her: a fourth female, clothed in white, is behind the hero holding a chaplet over his head Two

lictors A lictor (possibly from Latin ''ligare'', meaning 'to bind') was a Roman civil servant who was an attendant and bodyguard to a magistrate who held ''imperium''. Roman records describe lictors as having existed since the Roman Kingdom, and may ha ...

with the ''

fasces A fasces ( ; ; a , from the Latin word , meaning 'bundle'; ) is a bound bundle of wooden rods, often but not always including an axe (occasionally two axes) with its blade emerging. The fasces is an Italian symbol that had its origin in the Etrus ...

'' stand on his right and a group of four soldiers is on the opposite side.

Copy

A picture of this subject differing materially from the composition of the preceding, and done ''en

grisaille Grisaille ( or ; , from ''gris'' 'grey') means in general any European painting that is painted in grey. History Giotto used grisaille in the lower registers of his frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua () and Robert Campin, Jan van Ey ...

'', was formerly in the Dusseldorf Gallery and is engraved in that collection.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Continence of Scipio, The 1640 paintings Paintings by Nicolas Poussin Paintings in the Pushkin Museum History paintings Second Punic War Cultural depictions of Scipio Africanus Punic Wars in art Oil on canvas paintings

History

Description

Copy

See also

References