The Triumph of Pompey

Gabriel de Saint-Aubin French

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 690

In one of his most extraordinary drawings, brilliant with transparent and opaque watercolor, Saint-Aubin conjured a cast of hundreds in an imaginary view of ancient Rome at sunset. The scene represents the third triumphal entry of the general Pompey (Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, 106–48 BCE) and was made as part of a commission from Philippe de Prétot (ca. 1708–1787), an instructor in history and geography who offered classes and lessons aimed at fashionable society. The project, an illustrated survey of the history of ancient Rome entitled Le spectacle de l’histoire romaine, was first announced in 1762.

The Triumph of Pompey, Gabriel de Saint-Aubin (French, Paris 1724–1780 Paris), Watercolor and gouache, pen and black ink, graphite, over black chalk

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