An Episode from the Life of Publius Cornelius Scipio

Giovanni Bellini

National Gallery of Art

Men and women line up to either side of a man seated on a throne in this long, horizontal painting. The people are painted in shades of white and gray so they resemble marble statues against a background streaked with rust red and gray, resembling marble. About a third of the way into the composition from the left, the throne is atop a three-stepped platform. A cleanshaven man sits on the throne facing our right in profile. He has short, curly hair and wears a toga under a breastplate. He lifts one hand, the forefinger slightly extended, and his lips are parted. The side of the throne we see is in the shape of a creature with a person’s face, chest and front legs of a lion, tail of a serpent, and wings. A greyhound-like dog sits on the first of the three steps. Some of the dozen men lined up to the left of the throne wear armor and hold lances or daggers. One man stands with one hand across his chest and the other across his groin. Another man stands with his back to us, one ankle crossed in front of the other. Sixteen men and women and three horses stand in a line to the right of the throne. Two women are near the front of the line. The one closest to the throne holds an urn. A man just behind her holds a larger urn propped up on one shoulder. The other men wear armor or togas. One man is half again as tall as anyone else. A rectangular plaque just to the right of the throne appears to be carved with the words, “TVRPIVS IMPER VENERE Q AR MIS VINCI.”