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Notes
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This picture, painted in fresco (directly onto wet plaster), was part of a series of eight which decorated the walls of the palace belonging to Pandolfo Petrucci, the ruler of Siena. He commissioned the frescoes to celebrate the marriage of his son to Pope Pius III’s niece. Two others survive in the National Gallery’s collection. Coriolanus, a high-ranking Roman general, was banished from Rome in 491 BC, taking refuge with the neighbouring Volsci. Some years later he led them to victory against Rome. His mother Volumnia and his wife Vergilia – holding their baby – are here shown leading a deputation of women to beg for his mercy and to spare the city. Coriolanus, overwhelmed by emotion, opens his arms ready to embrace his elder child.
The patron, Pandolfo Petrucci, may have identified with such a scene: he was banished from Siena briefly in the 1490s and went into self-imposed exile in 1503.
Title
Coriolanus persuaded by his Family to spare Rome
Date
about 1509
Medium
Fresco, detached and mounted on canvas
Measurements
H 125.7 x W 125.7 cm
Accession number
NG3929
Acquisition method
Mond Bequest, 1924
Work type
Painting
The National Gallery, London
Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England
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