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The Battle of Vercellae

1725–29
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 600

Teutonic or Germanic invaders crossed the Alps into northern Italy, near Venice, around 105 BCE. Tiepolo’s painting represents their defeat by the forces of the Roman Empire under general Marius, who appears in the painting at the center of this gallery. This is one of ten canvases executed for the Venetian palazzo of the Dolfin family, who had been important statesmen and military figures in Venice since the 1600s. This theatrical reimagining of the ancient past, with bloody swords and fallen soldiers, proclaims the integrity of an Italian homeland. Tiepolo’s paintings originally were installed below a ceiling painting by Niccolò Bambini depicting the glorification of Venice attended by the Dolfin family.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Battle of Vercellae
  • Artist: Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (Italian, Venice 1696–1770 Madrid)
  • Date: 1725–29
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: Irregular painted surface, 162 x 148 3/8 in. (411.5 x 376.9 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1965
  • Object Number: 65.183.3
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

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The Capture of Carthage, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Italian, Oil on canvas
The Capture of Carthage
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
1725–29
The Triumph of Marius, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Italian, Oil on canvas
The Triumph of Marius
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
1729
Adoration of the Magi, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Italian, Etching
Adoration of the Magi
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
ca. 1753 (?)
Half-dressed Nymph with two children, surrounded by four men, from the Scherzi, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Italian, Etching
Half-dressed Nymph with two children, surrounded by four men, from the Scherzi
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
ca. 1743–50
St. Joseph with the Child Jesus
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

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