De dood van Marcus Junius Brutus 1819

Bartolomeo Pinelli created this etching, titled 'The Death of Marcus Junius Brutus', in Italy at the beginning of the 19th century. This print depicts Brutus' suicide following his defeat in battle, choosing death rather than capture. The image carries meaning through its visual codes, referencing classical history and ideas about republican virtue. It was made during a period of political upheaval in Europe, and in Italy especially, with revolutionary and republican ideas circulating after the French Revolution. Brutus, the famous assassin of Julius Caesar, was an iconic figure for republicans. Pinelli’s print invites us to consider the social context that would give classical stories like this such political resonance. Historians delve into such meanings, researching both the classical sources and also the political climate of Pinelli's Italy. Art always carries such traces of its own time.