Tiepolo, Giambattista (1696-1770)
Bruto e Arrunte (Death of consul L. J. Brutus in a duel with Arruns)
c.1728–1730
Oil on canvas, 383 × 182 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Inscription: On the typeface above the ballhorned quote: MVTVO VVLNERE OCCVBVIT ADVLTERVM FERE AD INFEROS SEVITVR …
Tiepolo painted a total of ten portrait-format pictures with scenes from Roman history for the large hall of the Ca’Dolfin in Venice. After the kings had been expelled from Rome, the young republic waged war against the Etruscans. The two generals, L. J. Brutus (the first consul of Rome) and Aruns (the son of the deposed last king Tarquinius Superbus) killed each other in a duel. Tiepolo, in whose work the great pictorial tradition of Venice sums up as the final climax, covers the horror of the action with virtuoso painting. (KHM)