Die Enthaltsamkeit des Scipio c. 1530 - 1532

Giulio Romano created this drawing of ‘The Continence of Scipio’ in Italy in the first half of the sixteenth century. The scene depicts a Roman general who, admired for his virtue, refuses to take a beautiful captive as his prize of war, instead returning her to her fiancé. At this time, the classical world of ancient Greece and Rome was seen as the ideal standard by which to measure contemporary society. A sophisticated visual culture promoted the values of the elite classes, and artists like Romano played a crucial role. His idealized figures and carefully staged composition create a powerful image of justice and self-control. The drawing is also a work of artistry in itself, designed to display the artist’s skill. To fully understand this drawing we need to do more research; to consider the role of humanist education, the systems of patronage, and the study of classical texts in early modern Italy. The meaning of art is always contingent on its context, which we can recover through historical investigation.