The Assassination of Julius Caesar

Master of the Apollini Sacrum, artist

active 1480–1500

The Assassination of Julius Caesar, late 1400s

Where object was made: Republic of Florence (present-day Italy)

Material/technique: tempera; wood

Dimensions:
Canvas/Support (Height x Width x Depth): 44.5 x 151.1 cm
Canvas/Support (Height x Width x Depth): 17 1/2 x 59 1/2 in
Frame Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth): 24 1/4 x 65 1/4 x 4 1/4 in

Credit line: Gift from the Samuel H. Kress Study Collection

Accession number: 1960.0048

On display: Loo Gallery

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Images

Label texts

Spencer Museum of Art Highlights

This panel depicts the death of Julius Caesar in a continuous narrative, with four sequential scenes in one setting. The story reads from left to right: priests warn Caesar not to go to the Senate; Caesar refuses to look at the scroll that identifies the conspirators and their plans; conspirators stab Caesar at the Senate; Caesar is placed in honor on his funeral pyre.

Though the costumes and setting are late 15th-century Italian, viewers at that time would have been familiar with the story of Julius Caesar and would have understood the narrative as a depiction of ancient Rome. The artist included Trajan’s column, a key monument, at the far right to emphasize this point.

This painting decorated a cassone, one of a pair of wedding chests that a groom ordered for his bedchamber. 15th-century Italians traced their ancestry back to the ancient Romans. Images of their forebears’ lives reflect pride in their lineage. This association is appropriate for a room concerned with the continuance of the family line.

Displacement

The elongated, horizontal format of this painting is a clue to its initial purpose. It is a panel from a cassone, a type of chest that was a popular wedding gift during the Italian Renaissance and kept in the bedchamber. This panel had already been separated from the chest by its first recorded sale in 1949. In a museum setting, the panel is further displaced by its position at eye-level, rather than near the floor.

Displacement

Empire of Things

This panel decorated a cassone, an elaborate chest that would adorn a bedchamber. It depicts the death of Julius Caesar in a continuous narrative. The story reads from left to right: priests warn Caesar not to go to the Senate; Caesar refuses to look at the scroll that identifies the conspirators and their plans; conspirators stab Caesar at the Senate; Caesar is placed in honor on his funeral pyre. Though the costumes and setting are late 15th-century Italian, viewers would have been familiar with the story of Julius Caesar and would have understood the narrative as a depiction of ancient Rome.

Google Art Project

Label 2009:
Archive Label 2003:
This panel depicts the death of Julius Caesar in a continuous narrative, with four sequential scenes in one setting. The story reads from left to right: priests warn Caesar not to go to the Senate; Caesar refuses to look at the scroll that identifies the conspirators and their plans; conspirators stab Caesar at the Senate; Caesar is placed in honor on his funeral pyre.

Though the costumes and setting are late fifteenth-century Italian, viewers at that time would have been familiar with the story of Julius Caesar and would have understood the narrative as a depiction of ancient Rome. The artist included Trajan’s column, a key monument, at the far right to emphasize this point.

This painting decorated a cassone (kah-SOE-nay), one of a pair of wedding chests that a groom ordered for his bedchamber. Fifteenth-century Italians traced their ancestry back to the ancient Romans. Images of their forebears’ lives reflect pride in their lineage. This association is appropriate for a room concerned with the continuance of the family line.