How you can use this image
This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).
Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.
The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.
Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.
Notes
Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.
This large painting was displayed in the Paris Salon of 1814 (cat. no. 276). It depicts a scene from the play ‘Cinna’ by Corneille when the Emperor Augustus confronts the young Cinna about his role in a conspiracy to kill him. Cinna's anxiety at being found out is clear as he rises defensively from his seat, wrinkling the rug in his haste; however, it is Augustus's intention to be merciful. Although intended as a formal history painting the work was criticised for being too theatrical. It was even suggested that the face of Cinna was a likeness of the famous actor François-Joseph Talma. Perhaps due to the scathing criticism attracted by the works he exhibited in 1814, he no longer submitted entries to the official exhibition. Instead he developed a career as a prominent art critic. Despite the criticism, Delécluze's painting of Augustus and Cinna clearly influenced Gabriel Bouchet's painting of the same subject, exhibited in the Salon of 1819, now at Versailles.
Title
The Emperor Augustus Rebuking Cornelius Cinna for His Treachery
Date
1814
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 214.1 x W 263.9 cm
Accession number
B.M.367
Acquisition method
bequeathed by the Founders, 1885
Work type
Painting