Antonio Gionima was born in Venice, but moved to Bologna at a young age, studying under Aureliani Milani and Donato Creti. His untimely death, at the age of just 35, explains why his works are so rare, and his name little-known today.

The subject of this canvas, Mucius Scaevola before Lars Porsenna, is a legendary episode from ancient Roman history exemplifying the virtues of courage, self-sacrifice, and patriotism. According to tradition, in 507 BC the Etruscan king Lars Porsenna laid siege to Rome. In a daring act of bravery, Mucius Scaevola volunteered to assassinate Porsenna in an attempt to end the siege. However, Mucius mistakenly killed Porsenna’s guard instead. In this work, Gionima beautifully illustrates the scene in which Mucius, brought before the king to be punished, demonstrated his fearless commitment by thrusting his right hand into a sacrificial fire, declaring that he was just one of many Romans willing to sacrifice themselves for the Republic. Impressed by Mucius’s bravery, Porsenna spared his life and eventually lifted the siege.

Gionima’s painterly bravura emerges here blending the Bolognese academic tradition with Venetian colourism, therefore anticipating the results proposed, one generation later, by brothers Ubaldo and Gaetano Gandolfi.