Scipio African Elder and Spanish Women. Myth of Continentia Scipionis and its Reception in Venetian Painting in the 18th Century

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-0319.25.17

Keywords:

Scipio Africanus the Elder, fiancée of Allucius, Livius, Polybius, “The continence of Scipio”, Sebastian Ricci, Gian Antonio Pellegrini, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

Abstract

Livy and Polybius note that after the conquest of New Carthage, Scipio Africanus the Elder freed Spanish hostages, among whom was Allucius’ fiancée of extraordinary beauty. Not only did Scipio not accept her as a gift, but he summoned her parents and fiancé from her country, returned her to them for free and gave away as a wedding gift the gold intended for her redemption. The motif of the “continence of Scipio”, which was a political strategy aimed at gaining allies and ensuring their friendship with the Romans, was widely reflected in literature, opera and, above all, painting, starting from the sixteenth century. In the article we present works created in the Venetian artistic environment that have not been analyzed before.

Author Biographies

Dorota Gorzelany-Nowak, Muzeum Książąt Czartoryskich; Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie

Dr Dorota Gorzelany-Nowak – PhD, is a Classical archaeologist, curator of the Ancient Art Collection in the Princes Czartoryski Museum–National Museum in Krakow, the author of “Macedonia-Alexandria. Monumental funerary complexes of the late Classical and Hellenistic age” (2019) and many articles on iconography and the history of the museum collection.

Patrycja Matusiak, Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicach

Dr Patrycja Matusiak – PhD, works at the Institute of Literary Studies, University of Silesia in Katowice. She specializes in research on Carthaginian (Hannibal, Carthage and the Punic Wars), historiographic and reception themes (antiquity in comics). She is the author of the book “Obraz Hannibala w literaturze antycznej” (Katowice 2015).

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Published

2022-12-16

How to Cite

Gorzelany-Nowak, D., & Matusiak, P. (2022). Scipio African Elder and Spanish Women. Myth of Continentia Scipionis and its Reception in Venetian Painting in the 18th Century. Collectanea Philologica, (25), 255–271. https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-0319.25.17

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No. 25 (2022): Romanorum Hiberumque Conexio Per Saecula Firmissima

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