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Tapestry: Scipio Upbraiding Masinissa (from the series The Story of Scipio Africanus)
Flemish
Second half of the 16th century or first quarter of the 17th century
Object Place: Brussels, Flanders
Medium/Technique
Tapestry weave (wool warp; wool and silk wefts)
Dimensions
342.26 x 255.04 cm (134 3/4 x 100 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Richard Black Sewall, Fund
Accession Number19.59
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Fashion and Textiles
ClassificationsTextiles
DescriptionThe subject of this tapestry derives from various accounts of the deeds of Publius Cornelius Scipio, called Africanus, during the Second Punic War (218-201BC). The scene depicts an episode which took place after the battle scene shifted to Africa. Two local kings, Masinissa and Syphax, had taken up the Roman cause. Syphax soon defected to the enemy and married Hannibal's niece, Sophonisba. Soon afterwards Scipio took him prisoner. In a vain effort to save Sophonisba, Masinissa, still loyal to the Romans, married her. Scipio then demanded Sophonisba as a captive. To spare her, Masinissa sent a messenger to her with poison. In the upper border, the cartouche bears the following inscription: ARGVITVR NVMIDAE FIDES, MANDATQ [E] ZOPHONI TOXICA, NEC ALIAM SPEM SVPERESSE SIBI ("The Numidian's loyalty is demonstrated, and he sends poison to Sophonisba, saying that there was no other hope for her"). Masinissa (identified by the letters MA[ ] SSA on the hem of his tunic) appears at the left foreground of the encampment. Scipio (identified by the letters [ ] PIO on the lambrequins covering his left thigh) stands to the right. Two soldiers stand behind Scipio. Behind Masinissa, a man hands a cup to a woman seated in the door of a tent, a woman standing behind this pair holds a kerchief to her face. More tents and soldiers fill the distant landscape and on the horizon are hills and a castle.
InscriptionsThe Brussels mark woven into the left end of the lower outer guard.
ProvenanceBetween 1884 and 1887, purchased in Spain by Arthur Astor Carey (b. 1857 - d. 1923), Cambridge, MA; 1919, sold by Arthur Astor Carey to the MFA. (Accession Date: February 27, 1919)