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| Title | Regulus Returning to Carthage | |
| Collection | Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery | |
| Artist | Millet, Jean François, I (French artist, 1642-1679) | |
| Date Earliest | about 1665 | |
| Date Latest | about 1679 | |
| Description | The story of Attilius Regulus is told by several classical authors including Livy and Horace. Regulus was a consul of Rome during the First Punic War. He was captured by the Carthaginians and sent back to Rome as an envoy to negotiate an exchange of prisoners. However, he urged the Romans not to accept the terms and, because he was on oath to do so, returned to Carthage knowing that this would mean certain death. Regulus came to symbolise the virtues of patriotic faith and devotion to duty. | |
| Current Accession Number | 1958P17 | |
| Former Accession Number | P.17´58 | |
| Subject | landscape (Roman campagna); history (Attilius Regulus; Livy: Ep. 16; Horace: Carm.); figure | |
| Measurements | 65.4 x 81.3 cm cm (estimate) | |
| Material | oil on canvas | |
| Acquisition Details | Bought from P. & D. Colnaghi Co. Ltd 1958. | |
| Provenance | Count Czernin at least between 1844 - 1936. | |
| Principal Exhibitions | Colnaghi's, London, 1958, cat. no. 8. | |
| Publications | Wilkzek, K., Katalog der Graf Czernin'Schen Gemaldegalerie, 1936, Vienna, p. 58, ill.; Davies, M., Societé Poussin, vol. 2, 1948, p. 13; Catalogue of Paintings in Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery, 1960; Foreign Paintings in Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, A Summary Catalogue, 1983, no. 101. | |
| Notes | This painting is listed in the Czernin inventory of 1844 as a Gaspard Poussin. It is no. 107 in the Count Czernin Catalogue of 1936. It was attributed to Millet by Waagen in 1866. There is an oil sketch at Staedelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt, related in composition. A picture of the same composition attributed to Nicholas Poussin is at Schleissheim (1914 cat no. 3700, 63 x 91cm). It is clearly by the same hand as the National Gallery Millet and one in Munich (979). It is engraved by V. Pillement fils (Le Blanc 12). Number on stretcher '150'. 2 rubber stamps on back of canvas - one square one round. |
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| Rights Owner | Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery | |
| Author | Dr Patricia Smyth | |