The Battle of Vercellae

This painting is from a series of ten magnificent canvases painted to decorate the main room of Ca’ Dolfin, Venice. The battle has been tentatively identified as the great victory of Gaius Marius over the fierce Teutonic tribes in Lombardy in 101 B.C. The tribe of the Cimbri had crossed the Alps near Trent and invaded the Veneto, whose mild climate and delicacies reputedly sapped their strength. Their defeat saved Rome from conquest. (Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art)