The Continence of Scipio

The Continence of Scipio, or The Clemency of Scipio, is an episode in the life of the Roman general Scipio Africanus, as recounted by the historian Livy. During his campaign in Spain during the Second Punic War, Scipio refused to accept a ransom for a young female prisoner, returning her to her fiancé Allucius, who subsequently became a supporter of Rome. Scipio's magnanimous treatment of the prisoner was regarded as an exemplar of mercy in classical warfare. Interest in the story revived in the Renaissance, and the episode became a popular subject in literature, visual arts, and opera.

After studying initially under Pierre de Sévé in Paris, Nicolas Colombel traveled to Rome, where he encountered the works of Raphael and Poussin, whose classicism continued to shape his art throughout his career. He was elected to the Accademia di San Luca in 1686, but by 1693 had returned to Paris where, with the support of Pierre Mignard, he was received into the Académie Royale the following year. Following his exhibitions at the Salons of 1699 and 1704, Colombel became a professor in 1705.

This canvas is characteristic of Colombel’s late style, in which he upheld the academic tradition of the Poussinistes against the rising influence of the Rubénistes. Yet Colombel’s distinctive artistic personality emerges clearly in the work’s technical refinement and in his sensitive juxtaposition of strong, saturated colors.