In short

Sadly I have not yet been able to find a conclusive attribution for this elegant 18^th century Venetian composition standing close to Francesco Fontebasso and showing the influence of Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo. It represents a decisive moment during the Battle of Zama: Hannibal is about to leave the battle scene. This is the pivotal moment when the demise of Carthage was sealed.

About Francesco Fontebasso

Italian painter
Venice 1707 – 1769 Venice

Painter of history scenes (Biblical, mythological and Graeco-Roman subjects). He painted both in fresco and on canvas and was also active as a draughtsman and as a printmaker.

Francesco Fontebasso is an interesting Venetian Rococo painter. He was strongly influenced by his fellow Venetian painter, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and by their mutual master, Sebastiano Ricci. Fontebasso worked in Venice and between 1761 and 1768 in Saint Petersburg, then the capital of Russia. At his return in Venice in 1768 he was elected President of the Academy, but he sadly passed away already the next year.

Our painting is Venetian, it dates from the 18th century and it stands close to Fontebasso, both stylistically as in the choice of subject, but I did not yet find a conclusive attribution for it. Its vibrant palette clearly also witnesses of the influence of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.

About the subject of our painting

This is a highly original and rare composition of a fabulous subject: towards the end of the Second Punic War the decisive defeat in Tunisia of the most famous Carthaginian general Hannibal against the Roman general Scipio Africanus during the Battle of Zama in 202 BC. Thanks to his strategic insight and the use of war elephants Hannibal had been the curse of the Roman legions for 15 years. But his opponent had well studied his use of these elephants; at Zama, for the first time, the Romans were able to repulse them.

At right one sees the battle unfold between some of the 80 Carthaginian war elephants and the Roman cavalry. In the background we see the Roman cavalry and their ‘local’ alleys, the Numidian cavalry of King Masinissa; at the start of the battle they had beaten the Carthaginian cavalry and pursued them; their return to the battle field changed the course of the battle in favour of the Romans. The Romans were even able to capture eleven war elephants alive after the battle.

At left officers offer Hannibal a horse so that he can flee from the battle scene. Hannibal was indeed one of the few Carthaginians who reached their base at Hadrumetum (present-day Sousse) … in vain.

Why should you buy this painting?

Because this important turning point in the history of Ancient Rome has only very rarely been painted.