Vercingetorix Throws Down His Arms at the Feet of Julius Caesar

The Gallic Wars (58 B.C. — 51 B.C.) was perhaps the most significant military success of Julius Caesar, a campaign that lasted seven years and that the proconsul himself immortalized in a memoir that is an unparalleled approach to that war. The picture painted in 1889 by the French artist Lionel Royer depicts the end of the war: the moment in which Vercingetorix, chief of the Gallic tribe of the Averni and last leader of what was left of the resistance, surrendered his weapons. It was 52 B.C., and although the conflict dragged on for a while longer, they were only minor skirmishes that did not pose any problem for the Roman Republic. The writing is part of historical painting, of which Royer was a great exponent. A representation of history that, despite having several flaws in the temporal adequacy (square shields instead of round or armor), explains with solvency a vital episode of antiquity. The moment is so essential that the painting has a second symbolic language beyond the literal one captured by the picture. It is significant to point out that these details enhance what is captured in the painting: symbolism at the service of the central theme of the image. There is a clear intention to capture a frame of History but also to explain beyond what the eyes can see (which is one of the wonders that Art offers us). <a href="https://medium.com/the-collector/vercingetorix-throws-down-his-arms-at-the-feet-of-julius-caesar-royer-7afba15a4c84">Learn More</a>

Vercingetorix Throws Down His Arms at the Feet of Julius Caesar — Royer