The Continence of Scipio

1700 · Private collection

historical

The painting shows an event in the Second Punic War: after Scipio Africanus's capture of Carthago Nova, the exceptionally beautiful virgin betrothed to the Celtiberian prince Allucius, fell into the hands of the Romans. Scipio allowed her to return untouched to her family. Here the young man is shown kneeling before Scipio as he reunites the couple.

About the Artist

Johann Heiss

1640 – 1704

German painter and draughtsman. He was apprenticed first to Johann Friedrich Sichelbein (c. 1625-90), then in Augsburg to Johann Heinrich Schönfeld, whose style fundamentally determined his own. He was also influenced by Joseph Werner and French Baroque painters, and the knowledge of Italian landscape and architecture evident in his pictures suggests an Italian journey or the influence of an artist recently returned from Italy.

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