(Milan 1605–1678)
The battle between Romans and Gauls on the banks of the river Aniene,
oil on canvas, 212 x 164 cm, framed

Provenance:
European Private Collection

We are grateful to Cristina Geddo for suggesting the attribution and to Sonia Cavicchioli for identifying the subject matter of the present painting.

The composition of the present painting is unusual. It depicts a struggle between two warriors dressed in antique costume, standing on a bridge and shown from above in the near foreground, while a battle unfolds in the distant view beneath the arch of the bridge. The struggle between the two protagonists, one of whom has been overwhelmed by the other and is about to be killed with a raised dagger, is depicted with all its violence but at the same time transposed into an epic, heroic dimension charged with pathos.

The dramatic emphasis of the scene, the highlighting of the anatomic details and the contorted postures of the two figures are mannerist in style, as are the tones of the palette, enlivened only by the red and ochre of the armour. All these elements suggest the hand of Ercole Procaccini il Giovane (the Younger), who continued in the footsteps of his father as one of Lombardy’s leading painters of the late 17th century.

This attribution is supported by comparing the painting with others of a similar subject, such as the youthful Fall of Saul in the Pinacoteca Malaspina in Pavia and, above all, the Mythological battle scenes in the large frieze on the stairway of Palazzo Durini Caproni at Taliedo (cf. G. C. Bescapé, Il Palazzo Durini Caproni di Taliedo a Milano, Milan 1980, pl. XI, fig. 63; C. Geddo, Il cardinale Angelo Maria Durini [1725-1796]. Un mecenate lombardo nell’Europa dei Lumi fra arte, lettere e diplomazia, Cinisello Balsamo 2010, p. 82 note 50). This displays Ercole Procaccini’s inclination for battle scenes presented in the guise of history painting. The foreshortened profile of the armed man with the light reflected in his eye – a recurrent type in the artist’s work – is similar to that of the supine figure with arms outstretched in the Triumph of Eros, also in Palazzo Durini (see Geddo, Op. cit., fig. 7). There are also a number of references to Giulio Cesare Procaccini (Bologna 1574 – Milan 1625), who indeed provided a constant point of reference throughout his nephew´s work: These are noticeable both in the group of the two fighters with the warrior overthrown towards the viewer, freely inspired by the Cain and Abel in the Accademia Albertina in Turin, and in the delicately handled, stringy depiction of the distant battle. The composition, which juxtaposes two very different points of view, instead builds on ideas adapted from Il Cerano (Giovanni Battista Crespi, Cerano [near Novara] 1575 ca. - Milan 1632), Ercole’s teacher at the Accademia Ambrosiana. Further reference to his teacher appears in the fine sheen of the chased metal on the abandoned sword and helmet on the bridge. The lively co-mingling of the struggling bodies, derived from Rubens, instead denotes the influence of Johann Christoph Storer (1620-1671), who worked alongside Ercole in Palazzo Durini around 1648.

According to Cristina Geddo, these references, above all the softness of the brushwork, so rich in atmospheric effects, suggest the painting should be dated to around 1650.

Crucial in enabling the identification of the Roman scene is the necklace worn by the warrior about to be killed, a detail that is emphasised in the composition: It may in all probability be taken as an allusion to a torques, an ornament characteristic of the Gauls. This provides the focal point of the depicted narrative and provides the origins of Titus Manlius Torquatus´cognomen. What is depicted, therefore, is presumably the battle between the Romans and Gauls on the banks of the river Aniene and, more precisely, the crucial moments that took place on the bridge between the young Roman patrician, Titus Manlius, and an enormous Gaulish warrior dressed in “showy” uniform. The episode is described by Titus Livius in a section dedicated to the events of 161 BC in his Ab urbe condita (VII, 9-10). A Gaulish warrior derisively challenged “the strongest of the Romans”, after which he was confronted and duly defeated by the future Torquatus. Torquatus then snatched the Gaul´s necklace from his body, an action that subsequently gave rise to his name.

One of the most engaging and experimental of Ercole Procaccini’s works, this painting represents a particularly significant addition to the catalogue of the Milanese artist’s œuvre.

We would like to thank Cristina Geddo and Sonia Cavicchioli for their help in cataloguing this painting.