Tarquinius Priscus Entering Rome (c. 1470): Art, History and Details

Tarquinius Priscus Entering Rome (c. 1470) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Jacopo del Sellaio (Italian, c. 1441–1493).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Originally the front of a bridal chest, this panel was later removed and framed like a painting. At left, the Etruscan prophetess Tanaquil foresees her husband’s entry into Rome. En route, an eagle snatched his hat, then returned it as they approached the city, which Tanaquil interpreted as a good omen. Ancient triumphal processions, closely connected to ancient sarcophagi, were common subjects for bridal chests. Here Tanaquil is a model for a supportive, dutiful wife.

Object facts

• Title: Tarquinius Priscus Entering Rome
• Date: c. 1470
• Creator attribution: Jacopo del Sellaio (Italian, c. 1441–1493)
• Culture: Italy, late 15th Century
• Type: Painting
• Technique: tempera on wood, mounted on canvas
• Dimensions: Framed: 81.9 x 202.2 x 11.4 cm (32 1/4 x 79 5/8 x 4 1/2 in.); Unframed: 41 x 165.4 cm (16 1/8 x 65 1/8 in.)
• Collection: MED - Medieval Art
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1942.646

A detail from the museum

This painting utilizes continuous narrative; the same figures appear multiple times as the story unfolds from left to right.

Collection credit

Bequest of John L. Severance

Further reading listed by the museum

• Rudolph Lepke's Kunst-Auctions-Haus. Sammlung des verstorbenen Geheimen Regierungsrats und Früheren Direktors des Koenigl. Kupferstichkabinetts zu Berlin, Friedrich Lippmann. 1912.
• Catalogue of the John L. Severance Collection: Bequest of John L. Severance, 1936. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1942.
• Francis, Henry. "Department of Paintings." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 29, no. 9 (November 1942): 132-136

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.