The Capture of Carthage
1725–29
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Irregular painted surface, 162 x 148 3/8 in. (411.5 x 376.9 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1965
Accession Number
65.183.2
Tags
Art Historical Context
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo's *The Capture of Carthage* (1725–29) is a monumental oil on canvas that captures the dramatic fall of the ancient city during the Third Punic War in 146 BCE. Painted when Tiepolo was in his late twenties, this early masterpiece depicts Roman soldiers storming the North African stronghold, with dynamic figures of men, women, horses, and battling warriors filling the irregular 13-by-12-foot surface. Acquired by The Metropolitan Museum of Art through the Rogers Fund in 5, it exemplifies the Venetian master's flair for grand historical narratives. Tiepolo, a leading fig...
About the Artist
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo · 1696–1770
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770) stands as the greatest decorative painter of eighteenth-century Europe, a Venetian master whose luminous frescoes and dynamic compositions defined the Rococo era's aesthetic zenith. Born in Venice on March 5, 1696, to a modest shipping merchant family, Tiepolo's extraordinary talent transcended his humble origins to establish him as the most sought-after artis...