Object Description
Per Prof. James Higginbotham - January 2020:
This medal celebrates the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio ‘Africanus’, (236-184 BC) and is part of a series of sixty medals (61 types) commemorating important moments and personalities of Roman history from its legendary founding in 753 B.C.E to the beginnings of Empire under Augustus.
The series was produced by the Swiss engraver and medalist Jean Dassier (1676-1763) together with his son Jacques-Antoine Dassier (1715–1759). Both Dassiers were in turn the chief engravers for the Republic of Geneva. The younger Dassier was also active in London, as James Anthony Dassier, working at the Royal Mint during the reign of George II. He later minted coins and medals on behalf of Elizabeth, Empress of Russia. The Dassiers began accepting subscriptions for this series, Histoire de la République Romaine, in 1740, issuing the medals in both bronze and silver sets in 1743.
The “Continence of Scipio” is based on an episode recounted by the Roman historian Livy describing Scipio’s campaigns in Spain during the Second Punic War. Scipio had just taken Carthago Nova (Cartagena), the headquarters of the Carthaginian power in Hispania, and came into possession of a large amount of plunder including captives. Livy (26.50) tells the story of the Roman soldiers capturing a beautiful woman, whom they offered to Scipio as a prize of war. Scipio was taken by her beauty, but discovered that the woman was betrothed to a Celtiberian chieftain named Allucius. Scipio returned the woman to her fiancé, along with the money that had been offered by her parents to ransom her. His act of restraint (continence) encouraged local chieftains to both supply and reinforce Scipio's small army.
The story served as the inspiration for many later works in literature, opera and art from at least the 16th century onwards. Some examples include:
Giovanni Bellini’s painting The Continence of Scipio in the National Gallery of Art (ca. 1506-7)
Nicolas Poussin's painting The Continence of Scipio in the Pushkin (1640).
Nicolo Minato’s opera Scipione Africano (before 1662)
John Smibert’s The Continence of Scipio in the BCMA (1719-1722)
Bibliography:
William Eisler, Les médailles des Dassier de Genève, Skira, 2009, vol.II, 205/31a
