20 Works - February 5, 146 BC Punic Wars ended; as did the power of the great Hannibal Barca, with footnotes

After Giulio Romano

Detail; Zama's Battle, c. last third of XVI century

Oil on canvas

144×209 cm

Pushkin Fine Arts Museum, Moscow.

The Battle of Zama in the summer of 202 BC marked the end of the power of the great Hannibal Barca. With its greatest son, also Carthage should be at a virtual end. True, it should limp on for some time, but with its defeat at the end of the Second Punic War it no longer was a significant power.

Zama also marks the pinnacle in the career of the outstanding Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio, whose reforms to the Roman army made him legendary.

In 204 BC, after fourteen years of war, Roman troops landed in North Africa with the goal of directly attacking Carthage.

Giulio Romano (c. 1499 – 1 November 1546), is the acquired name of Giulio Pippi, who was an Italian painter and architect. He was a pupil of Raphael, and his stylistic deviations from High Renaissance classicism help define the sixteenth-century style known as Mannerism. Giulio's drawings have long been treasured by collectors; contemporary prints of them engraved by Marcantonio Raimondi were a significant contribution to the spread of sixteenth-century Italian style throughout Europe. More on Giulio Romano 

Angus McBride

Hannibal’s army was an ethnic mix, Celtiberian on the left, a Gaul on the right.

Gouache

Private collection

For Angus McBride, see below

French School, c. 17th

Battle of Zama

Oil on Canvas

40 x 46 in

Private collection

French School, c. 17th

Detail; Battle of Zama

Oil on Canvas

40 x 46 in

Private collection

French School, c. 17th. The Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture (Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture) was established in 1648. It oversaw—and held a monopoly over—the arts in France until 1793. The institution provided indispensable training for artists through both hands-on instruction and lectures, access to prestigious commissions, and the opportunity to exhibit their work. Significantly, it also controlled the arts by privileging certain subjects and by establishing a hierarchy among its members. This hierarchical structure ultimately led to the Académie’s dissolution during the French Revolution. However, the Académie in Paris became the model for many art academies across Europe and in the colonial Americas. More on French School, c. 17th

Marzio di Colantonio Ganassini

The Battle of Zama

Oil on copper

40 x 49 cm

Private collection

Marzio di Colantonio or di Colantonio Ganassini or di Cola Antonio (c. 1580s – after 1623) was an Italian painter, as a painter of still-lifes and landscapes, and fresco decorations of grotteschi and battle scenes with small figures. His still-life paintings contain hunted game.

He was born in Rome, and trained initially under his father, a painter of Grotteschi. He is said to have then trained under Antonio Tempesta.

He painted some sacred subjects including frescoes for the church of Santa Maria della Consolazione of Rome,[2] he was best known for his battle paintings, for which he was recruited by the Cardinal of Savoy to work for a time in Piedmont for the House of Savoy.[3] He died young in Viterbo. More on Marzio di Colantonio

Led by Scipio Africanus, they succeeded in defeating Carthaginian forces led by Hasdrubal Gisco and their Numidian allies commanded by Syphax at Utica and Great Plains (203 BC). With their situation precarious, the Carthaginian leadership sued for peace with Scipio. This offered accepted by the Romans who offered moderate terms. While the treaty was being debated in Rome, Carthaginian forces captured a Roman supply fleet in the Gulf of Tunes.

After Cornelis Cort, Netherlandish, c. 1533–before April 22, 1578

The Battle of Zama, c. 1567–1578

Oil on panel

59 × 42.7 cm (23 1/4 × 16 13/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

In the collection of the Gotskovskii family it was attributed to Giulio Romano, while in the Hermitage it was defined as a copy of his work. The idea behind this picture can be traced back to the composition by Raphael and Giulio Romano which has not survived, but motifs from it were used in Giulio's drawing (1523-4) held in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford). In it is depicted an elephant by the name of Hanno, which had been presented by the King of Portugal to the Vatican Court. Other drawings by Giulio Romano with this motif are also known and engravings as well. More on this painting

Cornelis Cort (c. 1533 – c. 17 March 1578) was a Dutch engraver and draughtsman. He spent the last 12 years of his life in Italy, where he was known as Cornelio Fiammingo.

Cort moved to Venice and lived in the house of Titian in 1565 and 1566, where he produced engraving based on Titian's works. From Italy he wandered back to the Netherlands, but he returned to Venice soon after 1567, proceeding thence to Bologna and Rome, where he produced engravings from all the great masters of the time.

At Rome he founded the well-known school in which, as Bartsch tells us, the simple line of Marcantonio was modified by a brilliant touch of the burin, afterwards imitated and perfected by Agostino Carracci in Italy and Nicolaes de Bruyn in the Netherlands. In Italy he gave circulation to the works of Raphael, Titian, Polidoro da Caravaggio, Baroccio, Giulio Clovio, Muziano and the Zuccari.

He visited Florence between 1569 and 1571 probably working for the Medici family and returned to Titian in Venice in 1571-1572. He spent the last year of his life in Rome, where he died. More on Cornelis Cort

Bernardino Cesari

The Fight Between Scipio Africanus and Hannibal

Oil on copper

26 x 35 1/8 in. (66.1 x 89.1 cm.)
Villa Margherita, Bordighera

Bernardino Cesari (1571 – 30 June 1622) was an Italian painter of the late-Mannerist and early Baroque period, active mainly in Rome and Naples, where he assisted his brother Giuseppe Cesari (Cavaliere d'Arpino).

On 9 November 1592, he was sentenced to death, for consorting with bandits, and fled to Naples. On 13 May 1593, he was pardoned and returned to Rome. In 1616, he travelled with Giuseppe to Naples to assist in painting in the Certosa di San Martino, then to Piedimonte di Alife to paint a large Last Judgement in the chapel of the fathers "predicatori". He traveled to Monte Cassino where he labored with Giuseppe in the frescoes for the refectory and the stanza of San Benedict, then to Rome where he painted an oil canvas of Noli me tangere, a fresco of Constatine the great, a St. Peter, and three oil paintings for the church Santi Cosma e Damiano. More on Bernardino Cesari

This success, along with the return of Hannibal and his veterans from Italy, led to change of heart on the part of the Carthaginian senate. Emboldened, they elected to continue the conflict and Hannibal set about enlarging his army. Marching out with a total force of around 54,000 men and 80 elephants, Hannibal encountered Scipio near Zama Regia. Forming his men in three lines, Hannibal placed his mercenaries in first line, his new recruits and levies in the second, and his Italian veterans in the third. These men were supported by the elephants to the front and Numidian and Carthaginian cavalry on the flanks.

Henri-Paul Motte (1846–1922)

Carthaginian war elephants engage Roman infantry at the Battle of Zama (202 BC). around 1890
I have no further description, at this time

Henri-Paul Motte (13 December 1846 – 1 April 1922) was a 19th-century French painter from Paris, who specialised in history painting and historic genre. He was a pupil of Jean-Léon Gérôme and began to exhibit at the Paris Salon from 1874 onwards. The painting Le cheval de Troie (The Trojan horse) was the artist's début at the Salon, and was acquired by the Wadsworth Atheneum in 2011. In 1892 he was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur. He won a bronze medal at the Exposition Universelle (1900). He is best known for his work of the Siege of La Rochelle, a depiction of Cardinal Richelieu in battle in the 17th century, completed in 1881. More on Henri-Paul Motte

To counter Hannibal's army, Scipio deployed his 43,000 men in a similar formation consisting of three lines, with Roman and Numidian cavalry on the flanks. Aware that Hannibal's elephants could be devastating on the attack, Scipio devised a new way to counter them. Though tough and strong, the elephants could not turn when they charged. Using this knowledge, he formed his infantry in separate units with gaps in between. These were filled with velites (light troops) which could move to allow the elephants to pass through.

Angus McBride

The elephant charge at Zama

Gouache

Private collection

The Roman heavy-infantry maniples are shown funnelling the elephants down the avenues. The three lines of Hannibal’s infantry can be seen in the distance. 

Angus McBride (11 May 1931 – 15 May 2007) was an English historical and fantasy illustrator.

Born in London to Highland Scots parents, Angus McBride was orphaned as a child. He was educated at the Canterbury Cathedral Choir School. He served his National Service in the Royal Fusiliers, and afterward got a job as an advertising artist.

Due to Britain's poor economic state immediately following World War II, McBride found it necessary to leave for South Africa. In Cape Town, he became a fairly well known and successful artist. However, he felt that he could not expand on his artistic plans in South Africa. In 1961, McBride moved back to England. He made his first works in educational magazines. In 1975, he began to work with Osprey Publishing.

As England's economy again suffered in the 1970s, McBride moved with his family back to Cape Town, and continued to work with British and American publishers.

Although a few of his paintings are in oils, McBride mostly preferred to work in gouache colours on illustration boards, making numerous detailed sketches of the composition before starting to paint.

In 2006, McBride moved to Ireland, where he continued to work. He died from a heart attack on 15 May 2007. More on Angus McBride

Peter Dennis

War Elephants

I have no further description, at this time

Peter Dennis was born in 1950. Inspired by contemporary magazines such as Look and Learn he studied illustration at Liverpool Art College. Peter has since contributed to hundreds of books, predominantly on historical subjects, including many Osprey titles. A keen wargamer and modelmaker, he is based in North Wales.

While primarily a military and historical illustrator, he prides himself on the wide scope and variety of commissions he has taken on. One of his latest works has been the black and whte sketch-style illustrations done for Sir Terry Pratchett's The World of Poo. His association with the Discworld continues: as well as illustrating the Ankh-Morpork Boardgame, he has most recently illustrated Mrs Bradshaw's Handbook and the 2016 Discworld Diary. He also provided the full-colour illustrations in The Compleat Discworld Atlas. More on Peter Dennis

It was his goal to allow the elephants to charge through these gaps thus minimizing the damage they could inflict. As anticipated, Hannibal opened the battle by ordering his elephants to charge the Roman lines. Moving forward, they were engaged by the Roman velites who drew them through the gaps in the Roman lines and out of the battle. With Hannibal's elephants neutralized, Scipio sent forward his cavalry. Attacking on both wings, the Roman and Numidian horsemen overwhelmed their opposition and pursued them from the field.

Cort, Cornelis, 1533?-1578.

Scipio Africanus on horseback with Roman soldiers engaging Hannibal, riding a war elephant, during the battle of Zama.

Engraving

43.7 x 58 cm

 Library of Congress

Cornelis Cort (c. 1533 – c. 17 March 1578) See above

Though displeased by his cavalry's departure, Scipio began advancing his infantry. This was met by an advance from Hannibal. While Hannibal's mercenaries defeated the first Roman assaults, his men slowly began to be pushed back by Scipio's troops. As the first and second lines gave way, Hannibal's veteran's stood firm forcing the other Carthaginian troops to move outward to the flanks as they retreated. Extending his line to avoid being outflanked, Scipio pressed the attack against Hannibal's best troops.

I have no further description, at this time

With the battle surging back and forth, the Roman cavalry rallied and returned to the field. Charging the rear of Hannibal's position, the cavalry caused his lines to break. Pinned between two forces, the Carthaginians were routed and driven from the field.

As with many battles in this period, exact casualties are not known. Some sources claim that Hannibal's casualties numbered 20,000 killed, 11,000 wounded, and 15,000 taken prisoner, while the Romans lost around 1,500 and 5,000 wounded. Regardless of casualties, the defeat at Zama led to Carthage renewing its calls for peace. These were accepted by Rome, however the terms were harsher than those offered a year earlier. In addition to losing the majority of its empire, a substancial war indemnity was imposed and Carthage was effectively destroyed as a power.

Otto van Veen

The Battle of Zama, 202 BC, c.1585-90 

Scipio fighting at the Battle of Zama

Oil on canvas

28¾ x 41 5/8 in. (73 x 105.7 cm.)

Musee des Beaux-Arts, Orleans, France

Otto van Veen, also known by his Latinized name Otto Venius or Octavius Vaenius, (c.1556 – 6 May 1629) was a painter, draughtsman, and humanist active primarily in Antwerp and Brussels in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century. He is known for running a large studio in Antwerp, producing several emblem books, and for being, from 1594 or 1595 until 1598, Peter Paul Rubens's teacher. His role as a classically educated humanist artist (a pictor doctus), reflected in the Latin name by which he is often known, Octavius Vaenius, was influential on the young Rubens, who would take on that role himself. More on Otto van Veen,

I have no further description, at this time

There has been a traditional simplifying view that Hannibal encircled his enemy at Cannae and was defeated by the same tactics at Zama. This though proves to be incorrect. Hannibal was not outgeneraled at Zama. For Scipio won the battle of Zama by winning the cavalry duel, due to superior numbers.

The Roman Army repulses the Carthaginian elephants at Zama, turning them back on their own lines

I have no further description, at this time

Cornelis Troost (Dutch, 1697–1750)

The Defeat of Hannibal at Zama, c. 1720–1720

Oil on Canvas

64.1 x 75.5 cm. (25.2 x 29.7 in.)

Private collection

Cornelis Troost (8 October 1696 – 7 March 1750) was an 18th-century actor and painter from Amsterdam.

Troost was trained as an actor and married the actress Susanna Maria van der Duyn, but became a pupil of Arnold Boonen and gave up his career for painting in 1723.

He is primarily remembered for his works depicting scenes from the Amsterdam Theatre and daily life of the upper crust in Amsterdam. One of his earliest drawings dated 1708, is of Prince Eugene of Savoy and the bookseller and spy Louis Renard visiting a chic Amsterdam brothel. Then he had an early success with a lively group portrait depicting the Amsterdam Inspectors of the Collegium Medicum. Troost painted portraits. Troost is known for his paintings of actors in famous roles as well as his witty and elegant Rococo genre scenes. Troost was possibly influenced by William Hogarth, and certainly by French artists such as Watteau, Boucher and Lancret. More on Cornelis Troost

If there is an irony in Hannibal's defeat at Zama though, it is that he was vanquished by the very thing he had sought to provoke with his invasion of Italy. Had he sought to inspire the tribes of Italy to rise against Roman rule, he had failed. Yet it was exactly the addition of the rebel Masinissa's Numidian cavalry to Scipio's forces which effectively sealed Hannibal's defeat.

Venetian School 18th Century

The officers of Hannibal Barca asking him to flee

Oil on canvas

70.5 by 94 cm.

Private collection

The Venetian school had a great influence of subsequent painting, and the history of later Western art has been described as a dialogue between the more intellectual and sculptural/linear approach of the Florentine and Roman traditions, and the more sensual, poetic, and pleasure-seeking of the colourful Venetian school. 

Although not considered part of the Venetian school, it provided the backdrop to 18th-century Venetian painting, which had a final flowering in Tiepolo's decorative painting and Canaletto's and Guardi's panoramic views. The extinction of the Republic by French Revolutionary armies in 1797 effectively brought the distinctive Venetian style to an end; it had at least arguably outlasted its rival Florence in that respect. More on The Venetian school

José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro

I have no further description, at this time

After killing or enslaving all the inhabitants by selling them, the Romans razed and burned the city. No one was allowed to live there. Carthage had been destroyed

Carthage destroyed by the Roman army Third Punic War 146 BC

I have no further description, at this time

Luigi Ademollo

The triumph of Scipio the African, returning from Rome after the battle of Zama

Pen and brown wash heightened with white

55 x 197 cm

Private collection

Luigi Ademollo (April 30, 1764 – February 11, 1849) was an Italian painter.

He was born in Milan. He studied at the Brera Academy, where he was taught by Giulio Traballesi, Giocondo Albertolli, and Giuseppe Piermarini. He left Milan in 1783 and traveled and worked in Rome and Florence. Ademollo primarily painted frescoes with biblical scenes from the Old and New Testaments. In 1789 he was appointed professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. He painted in theaters, including the decoration of sipari (theater curtains). He helped fresco the Royal Chapel in the Pitti Palace and also the churches of Santissima Annunziata and Sant'Ambrogio. In Siena, he painted frescoes for the Palazzo Venturi Gallerani and Palazzo Segardi. He died in Florence in 1849. More on Luigi Ademollo

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22 Works, The story of The world's first supermodel, Phryne by Henryk Siemiradzki, Paul Delaroche, Ippolito Buzzi, Angelica Kauffmann, James McNeill Whistler, Jean-Léon Gérôme, Jose Frappa, Franz von Stuck, Salvator Rosa, Joseph Mallord William Turner, and others, with footnotes

Henryk Siemiradzki

Phryne at the Poseidonia in Eleusis, c. 1889

Oil on Canvas

Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

Phryne at the Festival of Poseidon in Eleusis or Phryne at the Poseidonia in Eleusis is a very large-scale history painting by the Russian-born Polish painter Henryk Siemiradzki, completed in 1889. It is part of the collections of the State Russian Museum in Saint Petersburg. More on this painting

Henryk Hektor Siemiradzki (24 October 1843 – 23 August 1902) was a Polish painter. He spent most of his active creative life in Rome. Best remembered for his monumental academic art. He was particularly known for his depictions of scenes from the ancient Greek-Roman world and the New Testament, owned by many national galleries of Europe.

Many of his paintings depict scenes from antiquity, often the sunlit pastoral scenes or compositions presenting the lives of early Christians. He also painted biblical and historical scenes, landscapes, and portraits. His best-known works include monumental curtains for the Lviv (Lwów) Theatre of Opera and for the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Kraków. More on Henryk Hektor Siemiradzki

Phryne's real name was Mnēsarétē ("commemorating virtue"), but owing to her yellowish complexion she was called Phrýnē ("toad"). This was a nickname frequently given to other courtesans and prostitutes as well. The exact dates of her birth and death are unknown, but she was born about 371 BC. In that year Thebes razed Thespiae not long after the battle of Leuctra and expelled its inhabitants.

Paul Delaroche (1797–1856)

The Hémicycle

Oil and wax on wall

H: 16 3/8 x W: 101 5/16 in. (41.6 x 257.3 cm)

The Walters Art Museum

This painting replicates Delaroche's most famous work, a mural in oils and wax (1836-41) in the auditorium of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France's most prestigious art school. Delaroche's pupil, Charles Béranger, is thought to have begun this replica in 1841, but the master completed it following his pupil's death in 1853. It provided a basis for L.-P. Henriquel-Dupont's engraving reproducing the composition. 

Represented are great artists of the past who appear to preside over the awards ceremonies held in the auditorium. Enthroned in the center are the three masters of antiquity-Ictinus the architect, Apelles the painter, and Phidias the sculptor-flanked by personifications of Greek and Gothic art (on the left) and Roman and Renaissance art (on the right). Below, the semi-nude figure of Fame leans forward to distribute laurel wreaths to the recipients of the coveted Grand Prix de Rome, who were entitled to spend 4 to 5 years studying in Rome at the expense of the State. More on this painting

In legislatures, a hemicycle is a semicircular, or horseshoe-shaped, debating chamber (plenary chamber), where deputies (members) sit to discuss and pass legislation. Although originally of Ancient Greek roots, the term and modern design derive from French politics and practice More on hemicycle

Paul Delaroche, in full Hippolyte-Paul Delaroche, (born July 17, 1797, Paris—died Nov. 4, 1859, Paris), painter whose painstakingly realistic historical subjects made him one of the most successful academic artists of mid-19th-century France. Delaroche’s father was an art expert, his uncle was curator of the Cabinet des Estampes, and his brother was the painter Jules-Hippolyte Delaroche. In 1832 he became a professor at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts and was made a member of the institute.

Delaroche’s pictures were painted with a firm, solid, smooth surface, which gave an appearance of the highest finish. Often in developing his compositions he first made wax models of them. He held a course midway between the Classicists and the Romantics. His long series of historical pictures had a great popular success, and the availability of engraved reproductions made his work familiar in thousands of homes. One of the most popular of his scenes was the “Children of Edward” (1830; Louvre, Paris), a depiction of the imprisonment of Edward IV’s sons in the Tower of London. More on Paul Delaroche

Paul Delaroche
Detail; Central portion of "The Hémicycle"

Phryne at the Festival of Poseidon

Oil and wax on wall

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris

Athenaeus Naucratita, a Greek rhetorician and grammarian, provides many anecdotes about Phryne. He praises her beauty, writing that on the occasion of the festivals of the Eleusinia and Poseidonia she would let down her hair and step naked into the sea. This would have inspired the painter Apelles to create his famous picture of Aphrodite Anadyomene (Rising from the Sea also portrayed at times as Venus Anadyomene). Supposedly the sculptor Praxiteles, who was also her lover, used her as the model for the statue of the Aphrodite of Knidos.

Copy of Praxiteles; restorer: Ippolito Buzzi (Italian, 1562–1634)

Praxiteles of Athens/ The Aphrodite of Knidos

Marble; original elements: torso and thighs; restored elements: head, arms, legs and support (drapery and jug).

Museo nazionale romano di palazzo Altemps

The Aphrodite of Knidos was one of the most famous works of the ancient Greek sculptor Praxiteles of Athens (4th century BC). It and its copies are often referred to as the Venus Pudica ("modest Venus") type, on account of her covering her naked pubis with her right hand. Variants of the Venus Pudica (suggesting an action to cover the breasts) are the Venus de' Medici or the Capitoline Venus.

Praxiteles of Athens, the son of Cephisodotus the Elder, was the most renowned of the Attica sculptors of the 4th century BC. He was the first to sculpt the nude female form in a life-size statue. While no indubitably attributable sculpture by Praxiteles is extant, numerous copies of his works have survived; several authors, including Pliny the Elder, wrote of his works; and coins engraved with silhouettes of his various famous statuary types from the period still exist.

A supposed relationship between Praxiteles and his beautiful model, the Thespian courtesan Phryne, has inspired speculation and interpretation in works of art ranging from painting to comic opera.

Some writers have maintained that there were two sculptors of the name Praxiteles. One was a contemporary of Pheidias, and the other his more celebrated grandson. Though the repetition of the same name in every other generation is common in Greece, there is no certain evidence for either position. More on Praxiteles of Athens

Ippolito Buzzi (or Buzio) (1562–1634) was an Italian sculptor from Viggiù, near Varese, in northernmost Lombardy, a member of a long-established dynasty of painters, sculptors and architects from the town, who passed his mature career in Rome. His personality as a sculptor is somewhat overshadowed by the two kinds of work he is known for: restorations to ancient Roman sculptures, some of them highly improvisatory by modern standards, and sculpture contributed to architectural projects and funeral monuments, where he was one among a team of craftsmen working under the general direction of an architect, like Giacomo della Porta - in projects for Pope Clement VIII, or Flaminio Ponzio - in projects for Pope Paul V - who would provide the designs from which the work was executed, always in consultation with the patron. Buzzi also turned his hand to garden sculpture of a high order, such as caryatids for the Teatro delle Acque in the Villa Aldobrandini, Frascati, works that were in the process of completion from 1603, with water features designed by Orazio Olivieri and Giovanni Guglielmi. Eva-Bettina Krems suggests that Pietro Aldobrandini's secretary, Monsignor Giovanni Battista Agucchi, is a likely candidate for the connection that introduced Buzzi to Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi. More on Ippolito Buzzi

Praxiteles produced two more statues for her, a statue of Eros which was consecrated in the temple of Thespiae 

Angelica Kauffmann, Swiss, 1741-1807

Praxiteles Giving Phryne his Statue of Cupid, c. 1794

Oil on canvas

43.3 x 48.6 cm (17 1/16 x 19 1/8 inches)

Rhode Island School of Design Museum

This scene depicts the Greek sculptor Praxiteles offering his favorite work, a statue of Cupid, as a gift to the courtesan Phryne. The subject is both tender and original, imagining the artist in a private dialogue with his beautiful mistress. Painted in Rome, it was one of four small paintings with themes of antiquity that were commissioned from Angelica Kauffmann by a British patron. More on this painting

Angelica Kauffmann, in full Maria Anna Catharina Angelica Kauffmann, (born Oct. 30, 1741, Chur, Switz.—died Nov. 5, 1807, Rome, Papal States), painter in the early Neoclassical style who is best known for her decorative wall paintings for residences designed by Robert Adam.

Her early paintings were influenced by the French Rococo works of Henri Gravelot and François Boucher. In 1754 and 1763 she visited Italy, and while in Rome she was influenced by the Neoclassicism of Anton Raphael Mengs.

She was induced by Lady Wentworth, wife of the English ambassador, to accompany her to London in 1766. She was well received and was particularly favoured by the royal family. Sir Joshua Reynolds became a close friend, and most of the numerous portraits and self-portraits done in her English period were influenced by his style of portrait painting. Her name is found among the signatories to the petition for the establishment of the Royal Academy, and in its first catalogue of 1769 she is listed as a member. She was one of only two women founding members. Kauffmann retired to Rome in the early 1780s with her second husband, the Venetian painter Antonio Zucchi.

Kauffmann’s pastoral and mythological compositions portray gods and goddesses. Her paintings are Rococo in tone and approach, though her figures are given Neoclassical poses and draperies. Kauffmann’s portraits of female sitters are among her finest works. More on Angelica Kauffmann

and a statue of Phryne herself which was made of solid gold and consecrated in the temple of Delphi. 

James McNeill Whistler (11 July 1834 - 17 July 1903)

Purple and Gold: Phryne the Superb! - Builder of Temples, c. 1898

Oil on canvas

236 x 137 mm (9 1/4" x 5 3/8")

Smithsonian Institution

James Abbott McNeill Whistler RBA (July 10, 1834 – July 17, 1903) was an American painter in oils and watercolor, and printmaker, active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading proponent of the credo "art for art's sake".

His signature for his paintings took the shape of a stylized butterfly possessing a long stinger for a tail.[1] The symbol combined both aspects of his personality: his art is marked by a subtle delicacy, while his public persona was combative. He found a parallel between painting and music, and entitled many of his paintings "arrangements", "harmonies", and "nocturnes", emphasizing the primacy of tonal harmony.[2] His most famous painting, Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 (1871), commonly known as Whistler's Mother, is a revered and often parodied portrait of motherhood. Whistler influenced the art world and the broader culture of his time with his aesthetic theories and his friendships with other leading artists and writers. More on James Abbott McNeill Whistler

Athenaeus alleges she was so rich that she offered to fund the rebuilding of the walls of Thebes, which had been destroyed by Alexander the Great in 336 BC, on the condition that the words "Destroyed by Alexander, restored by Phryne the courtesan" be inscribed upon them.

The best known event in Phryne's life is her trial. Athenaeus writes that she was prosecuted for a capital charge of impiety, and defended by the orator Hypereides, who was one of her lovers. When it seemed as if the verdict would be unfavourable, Hypereides removed Phryne's robe and bared her breasts before the judges to arouse their pity. 

Jean-Léon Gérôme

Phryne revealed before the Areopagus (1861)

Oil on canvas

80 × 128 cm (31.5 × 50.4 in)

Kunsthalle Hamburg

Phryne Before the Areopagus is an 1861 painting. The subject matter is Phryne, an ancient Greek hetaira (courtesan) who was put on trial for impiety. Phryne was acquitted after her defender Hypereides removed her robe and exposed her naked bosom, "to excite the pity of her judges by the sight of her beauty." More on this painting

Jean-Léon Gérôme (11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living artist by 1880." The range of his oeuvre included historical painting, Greek mythology, Orientalism, portraits, and other subjects, bringing the academic painting tradition to an artistic climax. He is considered one of the most important painters from this academic period. He was also a teacher with a long list of students. More on Jean-Léon Gérôme

Her beauty instilled the judges with a superstitious fear, who could not bring themselves to condemn "a prophetess and priestess of Aphrodite" to death. They decided to acquit her out of pity.

Jose Frappa

Phryne, c. 1904

Oil on canvas

H. 92,0 ; L. 131,0 cm.

Musée d'Orsay

José Frappa (French 1854-1904) is the son of Jean-Claude Frappa and Rose Huguet and the father of film critic and screenwriter, Jean-Jose Frappa.

He exhibited at the Paris Salons from 1876, received an honorable mention in 1880, a third class medal in 1889 and exhibited at the Champ de Mars salon from 1890. He was also, twice, member of the Council of 90 of the Society of French Artists and member of the National Society of Fine Arts.

After taking part in various universal exhibitions, he received on February 4, 1898 the Legion of Honor from the hands of the Minister of Commerce on the occasion of the Brussels International Exhibition of 1897.

José Frappa has made a specialty of small paintings treated with meticulous care, staging perky clergymen, cardinals and choral choir children. More on José Frappa

Due to her beauty, she also inspired much later works:

Franz von Stuck, 1863-1928

Phryne, c.1917/18 

Greek hetaera, 4th C BC., accused of atheism; narrator Hypereides achieves her acquittal by unveiling her body

Oil on paperboard

51 x 32,5cm

Private Collection

Franz Stuck (February 23, 1863 – August 30, 1928) was a German painter, sculptor, engraver, and architect. Born at Tettenweis near Passau, Stuck displayed an affinity for drawing and caricature from an early age. To begin his artistic education he relocated in 1878 to Munich, where he would settle for life. From 1881 to 1885 Stuck attended the Munich Academy.

In 1889 he exhibited his first paintings at the Munich Glass Palace, winning a gold medal for The Guardian of Paradise. In 1892 Stuck co-founded the Munich Secession, and also executed his first sculpture, Athlete. The next year he won further acclaim with the critical and public success of what is now his most famous work, the painting The Sin. Also during 1893, Stuck was awarded a gold medal for painting at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and was appointed to a royal professorship. In 1895 he began teaching painting at the Munich Academy.

Having attained much fame by this time, Stuck was ennobled on December 9, 1905 and would receive further public honours from around Europe during the remainder of his life. He continued to be well respected among young artists as professor at the Munich Academy, even after his artistic styles became unfashionable. More on Franz von Stuck

Angelica Kauffman, (1741–1807)
Phrine seduces Xenocrates, 1794

Oil on canvas

17 x 18 7/8 in. (43 x 47.5 cm.)

Private collection

Sold for GBP 23,900 in Nov 2002

Xenocrates (c. 396/5 – 314/3 BC) of Chalcedon was a Greek philosopher, mathematician, and leader (scholarch) of the Platonic Academy from 339/8 to 314/3 BC. His teachings followed those of Plato, which he attempted to define more closely, often with mathematical elements. He distinguished three forms of being: the sensible, the intelligible, and a third compounded of the two, to which correspond respectively, sense, intellect and opinion. He considered unity and duality to be gods which rule the universe, and the soul a self-moving number. God pervades all things, and there are daemonical powers, intermediate between the divine and the mortal, which consist in conditions of the soul. He held that mathematical objects and the Platonic Ideas are identical, unlike Plato who distinguished them. In ethics, he taught that virtue produces happiness, but external goods can minister to it and enable it to effect its purpose. More on Xenocrates

Salvator Rosa, (1615 - 1673)

Phryne Tempting Xenocrate

Oil on canvas

128.5 × 96 cm (50 1/2 × 37 3/4 in)

Private collection

Sold for GBP 152,500 in Nov 2015

“Phryne tempting Xenocrates” is a typical work of Rosa’s late Roman period, reflecting the artist’s absorption with Stoic and Cynic philosophy, and ambition to be known as a sober and philosophical painter of cose morali. The incident depicted is described by Diogenes Laertius (IV, 7) and repeated by Valerius Maximus (LIV, III, 3). According to these sources, Phryne made a wager that she could successfully seduce the philosopher Xenocrates, a disciple of Plato known for his personal dignity and self-restraint. One night Phryne went to the house of this virtuous man claiming to seek refuge from pursuers in the street. Out of compassion for her plight, Xenocrates admitted her, and allowed Phryne to share the couch in his room. But all her female charms could not make the philosopher depart from his strict principles. Eventually Phryne gave up and left the house, telling all who inquired that Xenocrates was not a man but a statue. More on this painting

Salvator Rosa, (born June 20, 1615, Arenella, Sicily, Spanish Habsburg domain [now in Italy]—died March 15, 1673, Rome, Papal States [Italy]), was a Italian Baroque painter and etcher of the Neapolitan school, remembered for his wildly romantic or “sublime” landscapes, marine paintings, and battle pictures. He was also an accomplished poet, satirist, actor, and musician.

Rosa studied painting in Naples, coming under the influence of the Spanish painter and engraver José de Ribera. Rosa went to Rome in 1635 to study, but he soon contracted malaria. He returned to Naples, where he painted numerous battle and marine pictures and developed his peculiar style of landscape—picturesquely wild scenes of nature with shepherds, seamen, soldiers, or bandits—the whole infused with a romantic poetic quality.

His reputation as a painter preceded his return to Rome in 1639. Already famous as an artist, he also became a popular comic actor. For some years thereafter the environment of Florence was more comfortable for him than that of Rome. In Florence he enjoyed the patronage of Cardinal Giovanni Carlo de’ Medici. Rosa’s own house became the centre of a literary, musical, and artistic circle called the Accademia dei Percossi; here also Rosa’s flamboyant personality found expression in acting. In 1649 he returned and finally settled in Rome. Rosa, who had regarded his landscapes more as recreation than as serious art, now turned largely to religious and historical painting. In 1660 he began etching and completed a number of successful prints. His satires were posthumously published in 1710. More on Salvator Rosa

Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1775–1851

Phryne Going to the Public Baths as Venus, c. 1838

Oil paint on canvas

1930 x 1651 mm

Tate

Here Turner moves from ancient Rome to Athens, at the same time apparently conflating two classical legends with characteristic freedom. Phryne, a famous courtesan, once celebrated the festival of Poseidon by going naked into the sea at Eleusis near Athens. Her near-contemporary Demosthenes once taunted Aeschynes, his rival as an orator, of being the son of a courtesan (but not of Phryne herself). More on this painting

William Shackleton

Phryne at Eleusis, c. 1907

Oil on canvas

100.5 x 140.5 cm

Touchstones Rochdale

William Shackleton was born in Bradford, and at the early age of nine he had made up his mind to become an artist. His parents encouraged him to pursue his ambition. Shackleton studied at Bradford Technical College before gaining a scholarship to the Royal College of Art in 1893. He studied in Paris and in Italy where he was inspired by Renaissance art. More on this painting

Albert Wein
Phryne Before the Judges, c. 1948

Bronze

27″x15″

Private collection

Bronze, 27″x15″, 1948. Wein modeled Phryne Before the Judges in 1948, presumably while he was in Italy. He was commissioned by Archer Milton Huntington to enlarge the work to a monumental size for installation at Brookgreen Gardens, Murrell’s Inlet, South Carolina in 1950. It took him two years to carve and complete the commission. More on this painting

ANTONIO PARREIRAS, (Brazilian, 1860- 1937)
PHRYNE, c. 1909

Oil on canvas

48 1/2 in. x 72 1/2 in.

Private collection

This painting was exhibited at the Salon Societe-Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1910

Antônio Diogo da Silva Parreiras (20 January 1860, Niterói – 17 October 1937, Niterói) was a Brazilian painter, designer and illustrator.

In 1882, he enrolled at the Academia Imperial de Belas Artes in Rio de Janeiro, but left two years later to attend the free painting classes being offered by the German immigrant artist Georg Grimm. In 1885, when Grimm left to work in the countryside, Parreiras became an autodidact. A year later, one of his works was purchased by Emperor Pedro II.

This allowed him to resume his formal studies and travel to Europe in 1888, entering the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia. Upon his return to Brazil two years later, he participated in the "Exposição Gerais de Belas Artes [pt]". Later that same year, he became a Professor of landscape painting at the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes (ENBA) and, following the example set by Grimm, introduced his students to plein-air painting. Following disagreements with ENBA over changes in the curriculum, he set up his own school called the " Escola do Ar Livre".

He was soon doing much of his work in the forests outside Teresópolis. He also received numerous commissions to paint historical scenes and, after 1899, did decorations for the government in public buildings. From 1906 to 1919, he maintained a second studio in Paris and exhibited at the Salon. He was also named a delegate of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1911.

In 1925 he was chosen as Brazil's best artist by the readers of Fon-Fon [pt], a magazine created by art critic Gonzaga Duque. The following year, he published his autobiography and was inducted into the "Academia Fluminense de Letras [pt]". In 1933, he participated in his last exhibitions; the "Jubileu Artístico" in São Paulo and Niteroi. Four years after his death, his former studio became the Museu Antônio Parreiras. More on Antônio Diogo da Silva Parreiras

James Pradier, (1790-1852)
Phryné remettant ses voiles

Sand cast bronze, 1845.

H. 39.8 cm (15 ½ in.)

Louvre Museum

Jean-Jacques (called James) Pradier (1790-1852) was born in Geneva, into a Protestant family who had fled to Switzerland on the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Throughout his career he was well supported by orders from Court.

The young Pradier’s education started in Geneva, where Vivant-Denon, then on a mission in the city, the capital of the French Léman region for some time, was so impressed by Pradier’s talent that he decided to make him go to Paris. After being taught by the painter François Gérard (1770-1837), he was a student at the Ecole des Beaux Arts (Fine Arts School) in the studio of the sculptor Frédéric Lemot (1773-1827).

While being a sculptor, he was also a gifted painter. But he soon became one of Lemot’s most brilliant pupils and won the Pris de Rome in 1812. He stayed 5 years in Rome and developed his own style, rather similar to the elegant and graceful statuary of the 18th century. More in Jean-Jacques

Joseph Mallord William Turner, (1775–1851)

Study for a Composition: Phryne c.1804–10

Pen and ink on paper

138 x 300 mm

Tate

Joseph Mallord William Turner, (1775–1851)

Study for a Composition: Phryne c.1802–10

Pen and ink on paper

140 x 302 mm

Tate

Percival Ball, (17 Feb 1845 - 04 Apr 1900)
Phryne before Praxiteles, 1900

Bronze relief

2620.0 x 3440.0 cm

Singer and Sons, Foundry

The facade of the Art Gallery of New South Wales

Percival Ball (17 February 1845 – 4 April 1900) was an English sculptor active in Australia.

He lstudied at the Royal Academy of Arts schools in England winning several gold medals and prizes. Between 1865 and 1882 he exhibited 24 works at Royal Academy exhibitions. Around 1870 Ball travelled to Paris and then to Munich and Rome, where he lived for approximately eight years. His marble sculptures received high praise.

Ball came to Sydney, Australia in 1884, seeking a warmer climate to relieve his asthma and bronchitis. After six months there he moved to Melbourne, occupying a studio at Grosvenor chambers from 1888. In 1898 he was commissioned by the trustees of the national gallery at Sydney to design a panel for the facade of the building. He completed his relief panel Phryne before Praxiteles and then travelled to England to supervise the casting. His architectural sculpture is also at the Victoria and Albert Museum. He died of heart failure due to asthma and bronchitis in England in 1900. More on Percival Ball

Percival Ball, (17 Feb 1845 - 04 Apr 1900)

Phryne before Praxiteles, 1900

Detail, see above

English School
Phryne

pastel, pencil with pen and ink on paper

Bridgeman Art Library

Jean-Baptiste Deshays (French, Colleville 1729–1765 Paris)
Phryne Before the Areopagus, mid-18th century

Pen and brown ink, brown wash, heightened with white, over black chalk

18 11/16 x 23 11/16 in. (47.5 x 60.2)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Jean-Baptiste-Henri Deshays or Deshayes (1729 – 10 February 1765) was a French painter of religious and mythological subjects.

Deshays was born in Colleville, near Rouen. His first training was under his father, the minor Rouen painter Jean-Dominique Deshays, he then spent a little time under Jean-Baptiste Descamps at his Ecole Gratuite de Dessin. He spent time in Hyacinthe Collin de Vermont's Paris studio from around 1740 to 1749 and Jean Restout II's from late 1749 to 1751. Both these had been pupils of Jean Jouvenet, and painted in the Grand Style of French history painting, a style Deshays adopted as his own.

Deshays entered the Prix de Rome competition, winning second prize in 1750 with His 1750 Laban Giving his Daughter in Marriage to Jacob won the second prize in the Grand Prix de Rome, and his 1751 Job on the Dung-hill the first prize. Deshays served the compulsory three years training at the Ecole des Eleves Protégés. He then spent 4 years under Charles-Joseph Natoire at the French Academy in Rome, making several copies of works by Raphael, Domenichino, Guercino and the Carracci. On Deshays' return to Paris in 1758, he married Boucher's elder daughter, and a year later became a full academician, though he only exhibited at 4 official Salons. He died in Paris. More on Deshayes

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