The Triumph of Julius Caesar: Soldiers Carrying Vases and Trophies of War (1593–99): Art, History and Details

The Triumph of Julius Caesar: Soldiers Carrying Vases and Trophies of War (1593–99) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Andrea Andreani (Italian, about 1558–1610); Andrea Mantegna (Italian, about 1431–1506).

The work and its context

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

Commissioned by Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga, this series of chiaroscuro woodcuts reproduces Andrea Mantegna’s Triumph of Julius Caesar, painted a century earlier. The scenes imaginatively portray the triumphal procession of the renowned Roman general and consul Julius Caesar following his successful defeat of Gaul in 52 BC. Each section of the continuous frieze shows elements typical of these parades, sanctioned by the Roman Senate and described in ancient texts. The printed suite’s frontispiece features a portrait bust of Mantegna, and the text below boasts that the famous paintings attracted many viewers. People who owned sets of these woodcuts often tacked them up to create a decorative frieze. Andreani issued the prints with a sheet of classical columns that could be cut out and placed between the scenes. Two fragments of these columns, colored orange, still flank the fourth scene.

Object facts

• Title: The Triumph of Julius Caesar: Soldiers Carrying Vases and Trophies of War
• Date: 1593–99
• Creator attribution: Andrea Andreani (Italian, about 1558–1610); Andrea Mantegna (Italian, about 1431–1506)
• Culture: Italy
• Type: Print
• Technique: chiaroscuro woodcut
• Dimensions: Image: 37 x 37.5 cm (14 9/16 x 14 3/4 in.); Sheet: 39.7 x 37.8 cm (15 5/8 x 14 7/8 in.); Matted: 58.4 x 57.1 cm (23 x 22 1/2 in.)
• Collection: PR - Chiaroscuro
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1930.583.7

Collection credit

Dudley P. Allen Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Goldfarb, Hilliard T. “Chiaroscuro Woodcut Technique and Andrea Andreani.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 68, no. 9 (November 1981): 307–330.

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.