Painting Detail
Triumph of Manius Curius DentatusArtist: Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
Medium: Painting, Oil on canvas, 550x322 cm
Date: c. 1730
Genre: History
Source: First Branch of the State Hermitage Museum, 1934
Dionisio Dolfin, Patriarch of Aquileia, commissioned a series of ten paintings on themes from Roman history for his Venetian palace, known as the Ca' Dolfin.
In 275 BC Manius Curius Dentatus defeated the forces of Pyrrhus, King of Epirus. Tiepolo showed the triumphant march of the victorious Roman army, an endless colourful procession which streams towards the viewer from out of the depths of the canvas. Seated on a sedan resting on elephants taken from Pyrrhus is the commander himself. The artist was not so much interested in individuals as the overall impression of the colourful swirling crowd.