(Siegen 1577–1640 Antwerp)
Cloelia Fleeing from the Camp of Porsena (based on Livy II: 13, Virgil, Aeneid VIII: 651, and Plutarch VI: 19),
oil on copper, 65.5 x 91 cm, framed

The composition of the present painting was jointly conceived by Peter Paul Rubens and his collaborator Jan Boeckhorst. The prototype is now preserved in the Old Masters Picture Gallery in Dresden. Further workshop replicas and one attributed to Hendrick van Balen, vary from the original painting in several details. Rubens very rarely used copper as a support, only four examples with supports like this are known. On the other hand, his workshop collaborators frequently resorted to copper plates, which were better suited for the shipment of the pictures to Spain and South America than canvas or panel.

The present painting shows a rarely depicted scene from Roman history. During peace negotiations between the Romans and the Etruscan king Lars Porsena in the year 508 B.C., young women from Rome, including Cloelia, the protagonist of the present composition, were sent to the Etruscan camp as hostages. Cloelia fled, leading a group of other hostages across the Tiber and back to Rome. Porsena demanded that she was returned, threatening to annul the peace treaty. However, he was so impressed by Cloelia’s bravery that he promised the Romans her immediate liberation should she be willing to come back. Cloelia was honoured for her heroic courage with an equestrian statue in Via Sacra.