3-097-256 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Mucius Scaevola before Porsenna, 1728. Gaius Mucius Cordus was an ancient Roman youth, possibly mythical, famous for his bravery. He attempted to assassinate the Etruscan king Lars Porsena but was captured. Mucius thrust his right hand into a fire which was lit for sacrifice and held it there without giving any indication of pain, thereby earning for himself and his descendants the cognomen Scaevola, meaning 'left-handed'. Porsena was shocked at the youth's bravery, and dismissed him from the Etruscan camp, free to return to Rome. One of the Ca' Dolfin Tiepolos, a series of ten oil paintings made c1726-1729 by Tiepolo for the main reception room or salone of the Palazzo Ca' Dolfin Manin in Venice. The paintings depict events from the history of Ancient Rome.