The Continence of Scipio
by HEISS, Johann, Oil on canvas, 130 x 196 cm
The painting shows an event in the Second Punic War: after Scipio Africanus’s capture of Carthago Nova, the exceptionally beautiful virgin betrothed to the Celtiberian prince Allucius, fell into the hands of the Romans. Scipio allowed her to return untouched to her family. Here the young man is shown kneeling before Scipio as he reunites the couple.
Heiss painted the subject of the Continence of Scipio on two other occasions.