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((short description|Artistic theme based on an episode of Roman history))
((for|individual paintings|The Continence of Scipio (painting)))
[[File:Nicolò dell'Abate - The Continence of Scipio - WGA00015.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|[[Nicolò dell'Abate]], ''The Continence of Scipio'', c. 1555.]]
[[File:Pompeo Batoni - Continenza di Scipione (c.1771).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|''The Continence of Scipio'', [[Pompeo Batoni]], c.1771.]]
'''The Continence of Scipio''', or '''The Clemency of Scipio''', is an episode in the life of the Roman general [[Scipio Africanus]], recounted by the historian [[Livy]]. During Scipio's campaign in Spain during the [[Second Punic War]], he refused to accept a ransom for a young female prisoner, returning her to her fiancé '''Allucius''', who in return became a supporter of Rome. Scipio's magnanimous treatment of a prisoner was regarded as an exemplar of mercy during warfare in classical times. Interest in the story revived in the [[Renaissance]] and the episode became a popular topic for literary works, visual arts, and operas.

==The classical story==
The oldest surviving appearance of the story is in book 26 of ''[[Ab urbe condita (Livy)|Ab urbe condita]]'' by the Roman historian Titus Livius ([[Livy]]). The events related in Livy's account were followed by all later writers, although it is recorded that the earlier [[Lost literary work|lost work]] by historian [[Valerius Antias]] took a different view on the episode.<ref>Kunzle, p.550</ref>

Livy describes [[Battle of Cartagena (209 BC)|the siege of the Carthaginian colony of New Carthage]] in Iberia (modern [[Cartagena, Spain]]) in 209 BC, by Roman forces commanded by Publius Cornelius Scipio (who would later become known as [[Scipio Africanus]]). The [[Celtiberians|Celtiberian]] prince Allucius, an ally of Carthage, had earlier been [[betrothed]] to a beautiful virgin woman (who Livy does not name). The woman was taken prisoner during the siege. Scipio had a reputation for [[womanizing]], so the troops brought the woman to him. The usual treatment of attractive female prisoners at this time was [[rape]], taking her as a [[concubine]], selling her into [[slavery]], and/or demanding a [[ransom]] from her family to avoid those fates. When Scipio was informed of her betrothal, he summoned the woman's parents and fiancé, who arrived with treasure that they offered as a ransom. Scipio refused to accept the ransom, instead offering to return the prisoner to Allucius if he became a friend to Rome. The family then offered the treasure as a [[gift|present]]; Scipio accepted this, but immediately returned the treasure as a [[wedding gift]] from himself. In gratitude, Allucius allied himself with Rome, bringing his tribe's forces to support the Roman armies.<ref>''[[Ab Urbe Condita Libri (Livy)|Ab urbe condita]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0158%3Abook%3D26%3Achapter%3D50 Book 26, chapter 50]</ref><ref>[[Valerius Maximus]], iv. 3. § 1</ref><ref>Sil. Ital. xv. 268 &c</ref>

==Early modern treatments==
===Literature and opera===
((refimprove|section|date=April 2023))
Beginning in the [[Renaissance]], the story became a popular motif for [[exemplary literature]], growing to a peak of popularity during the 17th and 18th centuries.

In 1567, [[Carolus Clusius]] translated the Latin biography of Scipio in [[Plutarch’s Lives]]. Plutarch did not mention the episode, so Clusius prominently inserted his own description of it, based on Livy, into the translation.<ref>Kunzle, p.519</ref>

Other dramatic treatments of the story include the ''Scipion'' of [[Jean Desmarets]] (1638), which was adapted into Dutch by Jan Lemmers as ''Schipio in Karthago'' (1649) and also performed later as ''Schipio en Olinde''. In England a verse drama on the episode, ''Scipio Africanus'' was produced by a schoolboy, [[Charles Beckingham]]; it was acted in theatres and later printed in 1718. 
[[File:1751 Tiepolo Die Enthaltsamkeit Scipios anagoria.JPG|thumb|upright|''The Clemency of Scipio'' by [[Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo]] (1751), [[Städel]].]]

[[Opera]]tic treatments were numerous, with several composers setting music to the same [[libretto]]. [[Nicolo Minato]]'s ''Scipione Africano'' was set to music, or served as the basis for adaptations, by [[Francesco Cavalli]] (1662); [[Carlo Ambrogio Lonati]] (1692); [[Francesco Bianchi (composer)|Francesco Bianchi]] (1787); and [[Gioacchino Albertini]] (1789). [[Johann Sigismund Kusser]] produced a German version, ''Der großmütige Scipio Africanus'' (1694). [[Giovanni Battista Boccabadati]]'s prose drama ''Scipione'' (1693) served as the basis for [[Apostolo Zeno]]'s ''Scipione nelle Spagne'', which was performed in 1710, with music possibly by [[Antonio Caldara]]. Baccabadati's text was also set to music by [[Alessandro Scarlatti]] (1714), [[Tomaso Albinoni]] (1724), [[George Friederic Handel]] (1726), [[Carlo Arrigoni]] (1739), and  [[Leonardo Leo]] (1740). [[Johann Christian Bach]]'s ''La Clemenza di Scipione'' (1778) was also based upon it.

===Visual arts===
[[File:Domenico Beccafumi - The Continence of Scipio Africanus - WGA01544.jpg|thumb|[[Domenico Beccafumi]]]]
There were numerous artistic depictions of the mercy and sexual restraint of Scipio although, as with the operas, they go now by a variety of titles. "The Continence of Scipio" is most common in English, although "The Clemency of Scipio" is also found. In other languages the terms magnanimity (''großmütigheit'') and generosity are alternatives. There is also sometimes a difficulty in identifying which scene is intended. The most common alternative example of military clemency descending from classical times was [[Alexander the Great]]'s generous treatment of the family of the defeated Persian King [[Darius III|Darius]], best known from [[The Family of Darius before Alexander|Veronese's painting in London]]. The scene of a victorious general seated at the centre of the composition with kneeling figures before him might portray either story without other clues to its interpretation.<ref>Kunzle, p.524</ref>

Typically, Scipio sits on a throne on a raised dias, stretching out an arm in the direction of the Spanish party, with their treasure laid out in front of them. The "continence" shown by Scipio is both sexual and financial.<ref>Kunzle</ref>   The story of [[Timoclea]] and Alexander the Great is rather different, but produces similar compositions of a woman brought before a magnanimous classical commander, which sometimes accompanied the ''Continence'' in a series,<ref>[http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2010/important-old-master-paintings-and-sculpture-n08610/lot.177.html "Giovanni Battista Gaulli, called Il Baciccio ''The Continence of Scipio''], [[Sotheby's]]</ref> and is also capable of being confused with it.<ref>[http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=715754&partId=1 British Museum, Drawing Cat. 1860,0616.118], by [[Perino del Vaga]]</ref> [[Bernard de Montfaucon]] paired the two stories as his "Examples of the clemency and continence of conquerors" in a book of 1724.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=-b_ojfBm3EQC&pg=PT122 ''Supplement au livre de l'antiquité expliquée et représentée en figures: tome quatrième: qui comprend la guerre, les ponts, les aqueducs, la navigation, les phares & les tours octogones''], Chapter 4</ref>

Tapestry series based on the exploits of Scipio, which would often portray this scene, was one contextual identifier; so was connection with the histories of Livy or the expanded Plutarch for which the numerous surviving prints were intended, or on which they were dependent. Another context was the work's association with marriage, since the wedding between Allucius and his bride followed immediately on her restoration to him. [[Apollonio di Giovanni di Tommaso]]'s episodic depiction appeared as a painted panel on a 15th-century marriage chest.<ref>[https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O14938/the-continence-of-scipio-oil-painting-apollonio-di-giovanni Victoria and Albert Museum]</ref> 
[[File:Giovanni Antonio Fasolo, Castello Porto Colleoni Thiene, Cleopatra's Banquet - The Continence of Scipio.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.3|[[Giovanni Antonio Fasolo]]'s 16th century fresco is to the right of the door at the Castello Porto Colleoni Thiene.]]

[[Pietro da Cortona]]’s mural in the [[Palazzo Pitti]] was intended for the marriage of [[Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany]] in 1637. In the case of the 1621 painting of the scene by [[Anthony van Dyck]], which features prominently [[George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham]], together with his future bride, the artist's patron was also the sponsor of the marriage. Several other paintings from this time may have similar histories. The connection also extends to literary works, since it is known that Boccabadati's 1693 drama ''Scipione'' was written for performance during the celebration of the marriage between [[Francesco II d'Este, Duke of Modena]] and [[Margherita Maria Farnese]].<ref>[http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/giovan-battista-boccabadati_%28Dizionario-Biografico%29 ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'' - Volume 10 (1968)]</ref>

Many paintings of Scipio's act of clemency were produced in Europe - over a hundred by [[Low Countries]] artists alone.<ref>Kunzle p.565ff</ref> Some artists made a speciality of the subject, returning to it more than once. [[Frans Francken the Younger]] painted eight versions, [[Sebastiano Ricci]] six versions, [[Simon de Vos]] and [[Gerbrand van den Eeckhout]] four each. [[Joseph-Marie Vien]] painted two versions, as did [[Peter Paul Rubens]]. In the case of the latter, both paintings were subsequently destroyed. Beside the historical record, a sketch of the 1620 version remains, as does a copy now in [[Lacock Abbey]].<ref>[https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-continence-of-scipio-100954 Art UK Arts]</ref> There are also 16th century [[fresco]]s by [[Gian Battista Zelotti]] at the Villa Emo, Fanzolo; the Villa Caldogno-Nordera, Caldogna; and elsewhere in Italy.

==Paintings==
[[File:Simon de Vos - The Magnanimity of Scipio Africanus.jpg|thumb|[[Simon de Vos]]]]

((commons category|Continence of Scipio))
Below are listed some paintings of the subject in museum collections:
*''[[The Continence of Scipio (Bellini)|The Continence of Scipio]]'', [[Giovanni Bellini]] (after 1506), [[National Gallery of Art]]
*''The Continence of Scipio Africanus'', [[Domenico Beccafumi]] (c.1525), Palazzo Manzi, [[Lucca]]
*''The Continence of Scipio'', [[Lambert Lombard]] (1547), Musée des Beaux-Arts, [[Rennes]]
*''The Continence of Scipio'', [[Nicolò dell'Abbate]] (1555), [[Musée du Louvre|Louvre]]
*''The Continence of Scipio'', [[Giulio Licinio]] (after 1566), [[National Gallery, London]]
*''The Continence of Scipio'', [[Karel van Mander]] (painting on copper, possibly used on a cabinet door, 1600), [[Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam]]
*''The Continence of Scipio'', [[Anthony van Dyck]] (1621), [[Christ Church, Oxford]]
*''The Continence of Scipio'', [[Jan Steen]] (1629), [[Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens]]
*''[[The Continence of Scipio (Poussin)|The Continence of Scipio]]'', [[Nicolas Poussin]] (1640), [http://www.arts-museum.ru/data/fonds/europe_and_america/j/2001_3000/6458_Velikodushie_Scipiona/index.php The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow]
*''[[The Continence of Scipio (Gerbrand van den Eeckhout)|The Continence of Scipio]]'', [[Gerbrand van den Eeckhout]] (ca. 1653), [[Rijksmuseum]], (ca. 1669), [[Toledo Museum of Art]]
*''The Clemency of Scipio'',  [[Giulio Romano]] (1688), Louvre
*''The Continence of Scipio'', [[Sebastiano Ricci]] (c.1700-04), [[Galleria Nazionale di Parma]]
*''The Continence of Scipio'', [[Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini]] (c.1708-13), [[The Cleveland Museum of Art]]
*''The Continence of Scipio'', [[François Lemoyne]] (1726), [[Museum of Fine Arts of Nancy]]
*''The Clemency of Scipio'', [[Michele Rocca]] (1720), Louvre
*''The Continence of Scipio'', [[Giambattista Pittoni]] (1733), Louvre
*''The Continence of Scipio'', [[Pietro Francesco Guala]] (1750), [[Musée départemental de l'Oise]], [[Beauvais]]
*''The Clemency of Scipio'', [[Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo]] (1751), [[Städel]]
*''The Continence of Scipio'', [[Pompeo Batoni]] (1771 or 1772), [[Hermitage Museum]]
*''The Continence of Scipio'', [[David Allan (painter)|David Allan]], 1774, [[National Gallery of Scotland]]
*''The Continence of Scipio'', [[Jean-Germain Drouais]] (1784), Musée des Beaux-Arts, [[Rennes]]
*''The Continence of Scipio'', [[Joshua Reynolds]] (1789), [[Hermitage Museum]]
*''The Continence of Scipio'', [[Paul Chenavard]] (1848), [[Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon]]

==Notes==
((Reflist|2))

==References==
* Kunzle, David (ed.), “The Magnanimous Soldier: The Continence of Scipio Africanus” in ''From Criminal to Courtier: The Soldier in Netherlandish Art 1550–1672'', 2002, BRILL, ((ISBN|9004123695)), 9789004123694, [https://books.google.com/books?id=DN5MkWvbgUMC&dq=the+continence+of+scipio&pg=PA507 pp. 507–71].

((DEFAULTSORT:Continence of Scipio))
[[Category:3rd-century BC people]]
[[Category:Latin works about history]]
[[Category:Operas]]
[[Category:1555 paintings]]
[[Category:1771 paintings]]
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[[Category:Works about sexual abstinence]]
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