Coriolanus pleaded with by his Wife and Mother not to attack Rome
John Michael Rysbrack (Antwerp 1684 – London 1770)
Category
Art / Drawings and watercolours
Date
1763 - 1767
Materials
Ink, wash and paper
Measurements
273 x 396 mm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Stourhead, Wiltshire
NT 730996
Caption
Caius Marcius, called Coriolanus, was allegedly a Roman general who lived around 5th century BC, according to Plutarch’s Lives, which was the source for Shakespeare’s eponymous tragic play. In a disagreement with the people of Rome and the Senate, he was exiled and fled to his old Volscian enemy, Attius Tullus Aufidius. Together they plotted to destroy Rome. They plundered many cities on the way but retreated from the capital when the women, along with his mother and wife, Veturia (called Volumnia by Shakespeare) and Volumnia (called Virgilia by Shakespeare) and his two sons, implored Coriolanus to cease the attack. The episode occurs in Act V, scene iii of the play although this is not necessarily a direct illustration.
Summary
Pen and ink with grey and brown wash heightened with white drawing on paper, Coriolanus pleaded with by his Wife and Mother not to attack Rome by John Michael Rysbrack (Antwerp 1694 – London 1770). The exiled Roman general sits on a throne under a canopy on the right. His is surrounded by opposing soldiers whose intention is to capture Rome. The women of the city, accompanied a child, have arrived from the left to entreat him not to attack them.
Provenance
Bequeathed to the National Trust along with Stourhead House, its grounds, and the rest of the contents by Sir Henry Hugh Arthur Hoare, 6th Bt (1865 – 1947) in 1946.
Makers and roles
John Michael Rysbrack (Antwerp 1684 – London 1770), artist