Cicero's Tomb at the Bay of Gaeta

Artist James Giles (Aberdeen, Scotland, 1801 - 1870)

Associated Cicero

Date1837

Mediumoil on canvas

ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings

DimensionsOverall: Height: 81.7 cm, Width: 117.2 cm
Frame: Height: 113.6 cm, Width: 148.7 cm

AcquisitionPurchased in 1982 with assistance from the National Fund for Acquisitions.

CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG000667

Keywords

About MeIn 1824-25 James Giles went on the Grand Tour in France and Italy. A visit to Italy was particularly stimulating for his art and during his trip he made about one thousand sketches. The Italian landscape, deeply influenced by the ideal landscape and the golden Mediterranean light of Claude Lorrain, was used as a subject by the artist even several years after his return from Italy, as this work testifies. This painting was made in 1837, but was almost certainly based on sketches made during his visit to Italy.

The round, ancient building that appears in the scene is not the real Cicero's tomb, as the title of the painting would suggest, but the whole place is linked with the event of his death. Cicero, the Latin poet and one of the most representative figures of the transition from Republic to Principatus in Rome, was killed on the orders of Mark Antony in Gaeta. The contrast between the peaceful beauty of the landscape and the ruined building which recalls the decline of a civilisation, reveals an attitude shared with many foreign artists visiting Italy who were fascinated by the decadence of a glorious empire.

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