The Continence of Scipio

The work is one of a pair of paintings.

See also Inv. A 309

The theme of the magnanimity and clemency of the sovereign is the fil rouge that links these two large paintings, created as companion pieces by Antonio Bellucci in the early stages of his artistic career.

In the first painting, the artist depicts a legend, frequently found in the writings of ancient historians, according to which, among the prisoners of Scipio Africanus, after he conquered the city of New Carthage, there was a beautiful girl, already betrothed to a young man. With a noble gesture, Scipio sent for her family members and freed her, returning her to her future husband.

According to historians, also Alexander the Great showed the same benevolence and humanity by treating with great respect the mother, wife and daughters of his rival Darius, defeated by the Macedon king during the Battle of Issus. However, the second painting could also allude to the affair of the general Coriolanus, exhorted by his family members to give up the siege of the city of Rome, which might be represented by the old buildings we see in the background of the composition.

The scenes painted by Bellucci are animated by the presence of numerous characters. “figures built with full volumes that strengthen the whole spatial construction, with forms that shine in the direct light and suggest the sense of depth in the way they contrast with the parts in the shade” (Magani).

The artist applies the paint on the canvas with agile brush strokes, giving his pictures a luminosity which, in the painting of the family of Darius, becomes intense, based on strong contrasts.

These are works by a painter who is still closely linked, in the first painting, to the art of Pietro Liberi and, in the second, to that of Antonio Zanchi.