Age of Bronze
by CORTONA, Pietro da, Fresco
The picture shows one of the scenes in the Stanza della Stufa. A Roman general distributes the spoils of war to his soldiers, who have proven their valour in combat. In the foreground, a group of prisoners in chains is huddled next to a bundle of trophies. According to Ovid, people in the Age of Bronze may have been wild and combative, but they were neither cruel nor immoral.
The Stanza della Stufa is a smaller room on the piano nobile that was one of the grand duke’s private chambers. It took its name from its heated floor (“stufa” means heater). Cortona painted here the Age of Gold and the Age of Silver on the north wall in 1637. The Age of Bronze and Age of Iron were realized only later in 1641. The iconographic concept is based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses.