Collection: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY, United States
Between 1725 and 1729 the Venetian painter Tiepolo depicted a series of ancient Roman military victories as told in historical accounts - one of which is quoted in the banner flying overhead here: "The people of Rome behold Jugurtha, laden with chains." Proud, even defiant, the African king Jugurtha dominates the composition, while the Roman general Marius rises from a chariot. This triumphal procession that paraded captors, prisoners, and loot - including sculpture, metalwork, and carpets - occurred in 104 BCE. Tiepolo daringly presented his subject pouring out of a towering vertical format and inserted a self-portrait along the left edge. The painting is one in a series that acted as a kind of political theater in the palazzo of a Venetian diplomatic and military family.