The Attack on Cartagena
Artist: Giulio Licinio (Italian, c. 1527 - after 1591)
Original Dimensions: 14" x 60 1/4"
Location: National Gallery of Art, London
About Artwork: (After 1566) "The Attack on Cartagena is one of a series of scenes from ancient Roman history that were probably intended to be inserted into wall panelling. Three further scenes from the series – The Continence of Scipio, The Rape of the Sabines and The Intervention of the Sabine Women – are also in the National Gallery. The Romans assaulted the Carthaginian stronghold of New Carthage in 209 BC during the Second Punic War. The city, on the coast of north Africa, was on a peninsula connected to the mainlaind by a narrow strip of land. An unexpected storm drained the lagoon into the Mediterranean, allowing the Roman soldiers led by Scipio Africanus to approach the city from the north while the naval forces penetrated the city from the south, and the Carthaginians were forced to surrender. Here, the viewer is thrust into the centre of the action as Roman soldiers lay siege to the city." - (National Gallery of Art, London)

Panel content
Panel content