Metropolitan Museum Trip

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo- The Capture of Carthage (1725-29)
This painting is from a series of ten magnificent canvas as painted to decorate the main room of Ca'Dolfin, Venice. The subject has been variously identified. It probably shows the capture of Carthage by Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus in 146 B.C., a momentous event that categorically ended the power of Carthage. The carnage was unspeakable and the city burned for seventeen days. The depiction of the event probably carried an allusion to the recent campaigns of the Venetians against the Turks in the Mediterranean, and in particular to the participation of Daniele Dolfin.



 

Luis Egidio Melendez- The Afternoon Meal (1772)
This still life by Melendez is exceptional in its format and composition. The setting in a luscious landscape is also unusual for him; his compositions are usually set against stark backgrounds. The painting is similar to a series of four which were painted for the Nuevo Cabinete de Historia Natural of the Prince of Asturias (now in the Museo del Prado, Madrid). It is likely that the museums still life originally had a pendant canvas of the same size, with a landscape. The presence of a picnic basket justifies the title of The Afternoon Meal (in spanish La Merienda).