The Continence of Scipio, Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo
The Continence of Scipio
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Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo

The Continence of Scipio, ca. 1751


Dimensions
120.5 x 98.0 cm
Physical Description
Canvas
Inventory Number
1009
Acquisition
Acquired in 1865 as a gift from H.H. Goldschmidt
Status
On display, 2nd upper level, Old Masters, room 14

Texts

About the Work

The Roman general Scipio had been promised a beautiful young girl in return for conquering a city. But he returned the young woman to her betrothed and gave them the ransom he had been offered for the wedding. Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, the son of the even better-known painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, shows Scipio half turned away from the viewer, with a red cloak over his shoulders and the general's staff in his right hand. Before him stand the young bride in her finery and the bridegroom, who is putting a ring on her finger. Tiepolo has staged this moving episode from Roman history like a scene in a play.

About the Acquisition

Like many of his contemporaries, the Frankfurt merchant and banker Herz Hayum Goldschmidt (1799-1879) collected mainly Dutch and German art from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries and a number of works of Italian origin. Since 1826 the financial basis for this had been provided by his shop for manufactured goods in Langestraße, and later at Schöne Aussicht no. 6. He also dealt in government securities. Goldschmidt was a member of the Frankfurter Kunstverein (Frankfurt Art Association) and had purchased the Tiepolo painting there a few years before he donated it.

Work Data

Basic Information

Title
The Continence of Scipio
Painter
Period Produced
School
Object Type
Physical Description
Canvas
Material
Technique

Property and Acquisition

Institution
Departement
Collection
Creditline
Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main
Picture Copyright
Public Domain
Acquisition
Acquired in 1865 as a gift from H.H. Goldschmidt

Work Content

Iconclass

Primary
  • 98B(SCIPIO AFRICANUS MAJOR)51(+0) the continence of Scipio: he restores a captive woman to her bridegroom Allucius, who kneels before him; the ransom offered by the bride's parents is given to Allucius as a wedding-gift (+ variant)
Secondary

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Last update

13.03.2024