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The Capture of Carthage

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

Carthage, located along the African coast of the Mediterranean, was one of the ancient world’s largest and most powerful capitals until its destruction by the Romans in 146 BCE. As suggested here, the carnage was unspeakable, and the city burned for seventeen days. Through daring foreshortening—note the fallen figure and the man tipping his standard away from us—Tiepolo gave his composition a tense dynamism that fits the subject. For viewers in the 1700s, this event probably alluded to more recent battles between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire. Members of the Dolfin family, who commissioned this painting as one in a series showing ancient Roman victories, played an important part in those campaigns.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Capture of Carthage
  • 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: 65.183.2
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

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The Battle of Vercellae, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Italian, Oil on canvas
The Battle of Vercellae
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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