Scipio Africanus

Mattia di Nanni di Stefano

ca. 1425–30 · Poplar, bog oak and other wood inlay, rosewood, tin, bone, traces of green coloring · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

This panel was part of the intarsia bench made for the council chamber of the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena and placed under Simone Martini's (1284-1344) fresco the Maestà. The bench incorporated several panels with figures from Roman Republican history, all models of civic virtue, such as the illustrious general Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (237-183 B.C.).

Artist

Mattia di Nanni di Stefano

Date

ca. 1425–30

Medium

Poplar, bog oak and other wood inlay, rosewood, tin, bone, traces of green coloring

Culture

Italian, Siena

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Purchase, Rogers Fund, Gift of Mrs. Benjamin Moore, by exchange and Bequest of George Blumenthal, by exchange, 1997