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Course: The Metropolitan Museum of Art > Unit 1
Lesson 13: War and conquest- Negroli, Burgonet
- Tiepolo, The Triumph of Marius
- Matisse, The illustrated book, “Jazz”
- Byzantine Plate with the Battle of David and Goliath
- Trumbull, The Sortie Made by the Garrison of Gibraltar
- Master of Belmonte, Saint Michael
- Remington, The Old Dragoons of 1850
- Beyond Battle
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Tiepolo, The Triumph of Marius
Met curator Xavier Salomon on triumph and loss in Giovanni Battista Tiepolo’s The Triumph of Marius, 1729.
This painting is from a series of ten magnificent canvases painted to decorate the main room of Ca’ Dolfin, Venice. The subject of this triumphal procession is identified by the Latin inscription at the top of the painting, from the Roman historian Lucius Anneus Florus: "The people of Rome behold Jugurtha laden with chains". The African king Jugurtha is shown before his captor, the Roman general Gaius Marius. The procession was held on January 1, 104 B.C.E. The crowds carry booty, including a bust of the mother goddess Cybele. The thirty-year-old Tiepolo included his self-portrait among the figures on the left.
View this work on metmuseum.org.
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Given that it was painted 1729, how much was historically known about the romans back then, and how historically correct would the attire the romans/etc are wearing be considered today? Also the banners being used am I wondering about. Historically accurate?(3 votes)
incredible painting--I would love to see it in real-life! What most spoke to me about this photo is how the defeated king is in a red garment, which 'red' is typically used as a color of power. Second, it was stated in the video how after every successful war, the Romans would have a great parade back home, which reminded me of the Victory Parades (V-E Day, V-J Day) of World War II, and then immediately the fact that it seems this practice died off between WWII and Korean war, and definitely no parades after Vietnam or Iraq War (American Point of View). I understand that these wars were not "won" in a typical conquest-sense, and how might this lack of celebration (or even of victory) affected people after a war? To me it seems that political motivations must be much more clear in the future in order to ascertain what would be considered a victory worthy of a parade. Beautiful, complex, gargantuan painting.(1 vote)
I would link the changed attitude towards war to the spread of Christianity in people's minds. Historically, the side which won the war was right and was great, and the losing side was just unworthy. What Christianity introduced was the idea that you can be weak and you can lose in a physical sense, yet be "the king of kings". If you look at saints of the Catholic church, most of them would be considered loosers by Romans, because they got themselves murdered. Yet, they have been the role models for people for 20 centuries!
The military power of the USA is an awkward mixture of Roman appreciation of military superiority and Christian ideals which generates these strange war-like events.(1 vote)
Video transcript
This is a painting that I walk in front of every day. As soon as I enter into the Museum, I see it down from the Great Hall. As I go up, the figure of Marius in his chariot starts emerging from the staircase. And it’s only once I get to the end of the staircase that I suddenly realize there is this huge group of people towering over me. It’s very melodramatic and operatic. It’s as if the curtain has just lifted on the scene and this is all happening on a stage. This scene is set in ancient Rome. I am originally from Rome; I grew up there. Here is this piece of my past in front of me as I’m going to work. Every time the Romans won a war they would have a huge triumphal procession. In this case is the victory of the war between the Romans and the Numidians. There are people rejoicing, there are captives, there are people carrying vases and sculptures and various idols that have been taken away from Numidia. Jugurtha was the king of the Numidians. He’s there in chains, he’s in armor, he’s wearing this incredible red drapery. And I like to think of Tiepolo here as being an opera director, trying to place his characters within this scene. In opera, someone that wears red is always the person you’re going to notice first. The picture should all be about Marius, about the fact that he did win the war, but there isn’t just one story that’s told here. The inscription at the top of the painting reads: “And the people of Rome behold Jugurtha laden with chains.” So suddenly the scene becomes not so much about the winner, but about the loser. And this is the same in a film or in a book, where your feeling about different characters changes and shifts. I tend to sometimes sympathize more with the complex personality of the bad character. Tiepolo’s style, and the same is true for opera, is that more is more. I find it personally a very good thing. Even if you don’t like opera, you must understand that behind this huge theatrical depiction are very basic emotions that we all experience. And of course it’s the way those emotions are dressed up. When I see this picture, I have to forget about everything that’s happening around it and just focus on the basic. There is a story about how all of us win and lose at some points in our lives and how we do that. Jugurtha is winning with his incredible dignity. It’s capturing that subtlety in life. Besides the typical historical narrative, it relates ultimately to our lives and our feelings.