Vincenzo Camuccini

Vincenzo Camuccini was a painter of significant stature and influence in early nineteenth-century Rome, sought after for his academic paintings, the bulk of which focused on scenes from Greco-Roman history as in the present sketch.¹ He and his brother Pietro were also eminent art dealers, whose outstanding collection was purchased in 1856 by the 4th Duke of Northumberland for his seat at Alnwick in what was one of the last great acquisitions made by an Englishman travelling to Rome. 

Though this work is most certainly a preparatory sketch for a larger work, it has yet to be linked to a known composition by the artist. This scene certainly appears to represent a Roman Triumph, although the setting does not appear to be Rome itself given the pyramidal structures and mountainous landscape beyond. The presence of elephants may also be a clue to the identity of the conqueror – a very similar pair may be found in two drawings by Camuccini depicting the Triumph of Marcus Claudius Marcellus, on the occasion of his victory over the Gauls.²

An alternative suggestion for the subject matter is that of Alexander the Great conquering Babylonia, a subject most famously depicted in Charles Le Brun's tapestry series commissioned by Louis XIV in 1665.  

1. For a fuller discussion of Camuccini, see U. Hiesinger, 'The Paintings of Vincenzo Camuccini, 1771-1844' in The Art Bulletin, vol. LX, no. 2, June 1978, pp. 297-320.

2. See G. Piantoni de Angelis, in Vincenzo Camuccini (1771–1844). Bozzetti e disegni dallo studio dell'artista, exh. cat., Rome 1978, p. 74, cat. no. 158, reproduced p. 75; and a signed drawing of the same composition, sold London, Christie's, 26 November 1973, lot 141.