The Continence of Scipio Africanus
by BECCAFUMI, Domenico, Oil on panel, 68 x 140 cm
This painting was probably intended for a private palace. It 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. The panel depicts the moment when the young general announces her release to the prince kneeling before him, and in return asks simply that Allucius become a friend of Rome.