Scipio Series: Triumphal Entrance of Scipio in Carthage
Author: Andries Van den Dries
Origin: Brussels, Flanders
Dating: 1636-1671
Material: Wool & Silk
Dimensions (cm): 300 x 512
Inv. no.: PD0279
In this piece, a chariot transports the Roman General Scipio Africanus. He carries a sceptre in his right hand and a bouquet in his left. A winged figure holds a laurel wreath over his head. Around him, musicians follow and the procession continues in front of him towards the gates of the city; in the crowd an elephant may be seen.
Tapestries of Scipio
«In 1959, the Ducal Palace acquired the admirable tapestry series “History of Scipio” woven in Brussels in the second quarter of the 17th century in the workshop of the tapestry maker Andries van Dries. Van Dries was Master of the Brussels tapestry makers’ guild in 1635, received a letter of privilege in 1642 and was one of the founders of the “Pand” in that city in 1658. He was still alive in 1671. Although without documentary evidence, the series of Abraham from the National Museum in Warsaw, the series of Alexander from the Santa Cruz Museum in Toledo, and the series of Phaeton from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, are attributed to him.
From northern Italy to Africa, the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio (235-184/3 BC), fought the Carthaginians and imposed Roman domination over the Iberian Peninsula and northern Africa. Victorious over Hannibal at the Battle of Zama – which marked the end of the Second Punic War (218-201 BC) – Scipio made his triumphal entry into Rome on the chariot of “Victory” and was solemnly led to the Capitol, parading war spoils, prisoners, exotic animals, riches […], soldiers, weapons and trophies […].
He was then given the name Scipio Africanus. His life was narrated by Titus Livius – in his “History of Rome” – more specifically in the episodes related to the Second Punic War. The works of this important Latin historian were known to the men of the Middle Ages and of the Renaissance, with several editions in circulation. The same happened with Appian (95 AD – c. 165 AD) whose history of Rome, in high probability, served as a source – namely for the representation of the “Triumph of Scipio”. From Petrarch, the poem “Africa” – as well as his work “Triomphi” – were equally essential to the construction of the pictorial narrative. An important artistic source would have been the work of Andrea Mantegna (c. 1431–1506) “The Triumph of Caesar”, (Hampton Court Palace).
Scipio – rendered almost legendary – was the model of the perfect warrior, simultaneously brave, virtuous and generous, making him a highly appealing subject for any monarch or member of the nobility, who could identify with this figure and emulate the greatness of his qualities.»
Maria Antónia Gentil Quina
“Music in the Palace’s Collections”
«Although it is barely perceptible in the tapestry depicting the triumphant entry into Carthage – after defeating Hannibal – among the group of musicians […] there is a Lyre to the left of the Tympanon – in the centre of the tapestry, beside the horses pulling Scipio’s chariot. In the context of the victorious parade – a festive environment, therefore noisy – the Lyre (an instrument more suited to indoor settings and with a more intimate sound) is more of a visual element, than an instrument actually being played in the ensemble.
In these situations where instruments drown out the sound of others with less intensity, there may be an intention on the part of the artist to show instruments that were used at that time or, in a more negative interpretation, the artist […] had little musical knowledge.
[…]
The musical instruments depicted adhere to those of the general’s era, although the large wind instrument – on the right – has an original conformation that deviates from the standards of Roman instruments.
Due to its shape, it may be classed within the group of wooden Cornets (apparently) that were played like brass instrument, but had orifices (seven) – unlike brass instruments that had no orifices and were played solely by the air pressure in the mouthpiece. It is an instrument that, in Europe, is only known since the 12th century, reaching its golden age in the 16th and 17th centuries (OLIND; WALLISCH, 2004: 109). As this tapestry is from the 17th century, the painter who created the preparatory “cartoon” may not have respected (or may have been unaware of) the historical period in the case of this “cornet”.
As the instrument derives from the horn that the Italians adopted as a trumpet, its identification is thus included. Its imposing size and, naturally, its sonority, gave it the right to march alongside the general.
In the center of the tapestry, beyond the lyre […], is the figure of a musician whose instrument cannot be identified for only the upper part is visible. One may assume it as a trumpet […] or a small cornet.
In the background (the head of the parade) – in front of the elephants – follow two litus players, an instrument from the trumpet family but slightly curved at the end, which was somewhat reminiscent of a staff or a crosier of augurs or haruspices. This instrument first appears in iconography in the 5th century BC (ANDRÉS, 2009: 284)
Due to its sound characteristics, it was widely used by Roman legions both as war instruments and as a signaling instruments.
[…]
The Greco-Roman tympanon was an unimembranophone tamborim, with a skin stretched over a frame – with or without “cymbals” – similar to the modern tambourine. It was played directly with the hand and shaken slightly to sound the cymbals simultaneously. It was customary for women to play this instrument, especially in the worship of various deities, particularly female deities associated with fertility, marriage and motherhood, such as Cybele, Demeter or Artemis. Later, the instrument was integrated into the rituals of the cult of Dionysus. The instrument was also widely used in festive occasions, particularly accompanying dances.
[…]
The tympanon appears in this Tapestry of the triumphal entry of Scipio into Carthage, between a lyre player and a player of what seems to be a trumpet.
Although the instrument was typically played by women, in the tapestry it may be assumed to be played by masculine hands, given the military character of Scipio’s victorious procession, as well as the laurel wreath on the player’s head.
If it is a trumpet that is being played alongside the tympanon, these will be the two instruments with the greatest sound volume since the lyre, in the open air, will be completely drowned out by these two instruments.
In the scene, the music reinforces and proclaims the importance of this victory of Scipio for the Roman Empire, which was seriously threatened by Hannibal Barca.»
Eduardo Magalhães
“Flora in the Palace’s Collections”
«In the mid-17th century, a significant aspect of Flemish tapestry production was the reuse of Renaissance models, which implied that old Italianate cartoons remaining in the tapestry workshops of the previous century were readapted and reinterpreted according to the taste and style of the time.
The series of tapestries The History of Scipio in the Ducal Palace […] – woven more than a century after the first edition, dating from the 1530s – represents this retrospective look at the works of the old Renaissance masters, bringing their cartoons back to be reproduced, on a large scale, by the most important workshops in Brussels, in an attempt to revitalize the industry and keep it prosperous.
However, the ubiquitous ornamental border in all the tapestries of the History of Scipio series refers to sophisticated concepts of floral representation that would be part of the repertoire after the Renaissance. Brussels tapestry makers – such as Andriez van Dries, in whose workshop the tapestries were executed – favored borders with arrangements of flowers, fruits, birds and putti which remained popular with the commissioning clientele until after the third quarter of the 17th century.
Generally, the representation of exotic flowers was mixed with the old native species and, without any roots anchoring them to the ground, they floated in the border like cut flowers that continued to claim the sense of admiration for the explosion of floriculture in the Netherlands – that had already been taking place for decades.
Roses, cornflowers, daffodils, poppies, lilies, columbines, carnations, anemones, marigolds and wild lilies, casually coexist with tulips, guelder roses and sunflowers, which came to occupy a prominent place in garden landscapes from the mid-16th century onwards. A close look will also reveal that the flowers bordering the Scipio tapestries in the Palace, are not always the same in each border, although they are consistent in pattern.
It is curious that when one observes a flower in a garden, it is a demonstration of humanity’s overwhelming desire to capture beauty and scent, to keep them close. Fortunately, the genetic matrices of these flowers still grow spontaneously in wild, in the midst of their natural charm, sometimes, already in a vulnerable or endangered situation due to the pressure of the disordered and careless world in European territories. In the woven borders, as is the case with the Scipio tapestries […], although we can still identify them by their familiar genus, their almost chaotic profusion makes them imperceptible at first glance and, entangled solely by their ornamental behaviour, they are free to be judged on a completely different scale of values from how we evaluate natural flowers and even the distinctly represented flowers in still-lifes.
[…]
Wild lily, bearded iris and columbines are among the most beautiful flowers that open to the narrative gestures of ones imagination, while pinks – in shades of blue, pink and white, which peep from rocky crevices, fallow meadows and arid dunes – seem never to fear hunger and thirst in the skeletal soil that shelters them, regardless of their apparent fragility.»
Sasha Assis Lima
