The death of Marcus Atilius Regulus, showng being nailed into a tub by the Carthaginians
ca. 1661–62
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
sheet: 22 5/16 x 30 1/2 in. (56.6 x 77.4 cm) plate: 18 3/16 x 28 1/2 in. (46.2 x 72.4 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Phyllis Massar, 2011
Accession Number
2012.136.920
Tags
Art Historical Context
Salvator Rosa, a fiery Italian Baroque artist renowned for his dramatic history paintings, landscapes, and etchings, captured a gruesome moment from ancient history in this powerful print from around 1661–62. Titled *The Death of Marcus Atilius Regulus the etching depicts the Roman general's legendary torture by Carthaginian captors during the First Punic War (264–241 BCE). Regulus, a hero of Rome's struggle against Carthage, was sent as an envoy to negotiate peace but urged his city to fight on. Enraged, the Carthaginians—shown here nailing him into a spiked barrel—are said to have rolled him...
About the Artist
Salvator Rosa · 1615–1673
Salvator Rosa was born in 1615 in Arenella, on the outskirts of Naples, into a world of artistic ambition and turbulent talent. His early training came through his maternal uncle, the painter Paolo Greco, and his brother-in-law Francesco Fracanzano, himself a pupil of the great Spanish-born Neapolitan master Jusepe de Ribera. Rosa showed a fierce independence from the start, resisting his father's...