Description
In a story of virtuous leadership and wise government, the Roman commander Scipio Africanus the Elder appears after his stunning conquest of New Carthage in Spain in 209 BC. Standing above the crowd, he returns his victor’s reward--a beautiful young woman--to her husband.
Provenance
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio (1968-); (Ernest Joresco, Chicago, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1 (Probably 1965-1968); James G. McMillan [d. 1965], Chicago, probably consigned to Ernest Joresco 1 (Probably until 1965)
Accession Number
1968.207
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
Framed: 155.5 x 132 x 12 cm (61 1/4 x 51 15/16 x 4 3/4 in.); Unframed: 127 x 105 cm (50 x 41 5/16 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
Tags
Painting Baroque (1600–1750) Oil Painting Canvas Italian
Background & Context
Background Story
Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini (1675-1741) was an Italian painter known for the elegant, decorative history paintings that make him one of the most important painters of the Venetian Rococo. The Continence of Scipio from c. 1710 depicts the famous story of Scipio Africanus returning a captured bride to her fiance in the elegant, decorative manner that distinguishes Pellegrini's best work from the more serious painting of his contemporaries. Pellegrini was one of the first Venetian painters to work in England, and his elegant, decorative manner was enormously influential on the development of English decorative painting.
Cultural Impact
The Continence of Scipio is important in the history of Venetian painting because it demonstrates the elegant, decorative manner that Pellegrini brought to history painting as one of the most important painters of the Venetian Rococo. Pellegrini's elegant, decorative history paintings—combining the narrative of history painting with the decorative elegance of the Venetian Rococo—represent one of the most accomplished traditions in Venetian painting, and the c. 1710 painting shows this tradition at its most elegant.
Why It Matters
The Continence of Scipio is Pellegrini's elegant Venetian Rococo: the famous story of Scipio rendered in the decorative manner of one of the most important painters of the Venetian Rococo. The c. 1710 painting shows the combination of history painting narrative with Venetian decorative elegance that would influence the development of English decorative painting.
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