Cornelia Refusses the Crown of the Ptolomai
by LA HYRE, Laurent de, Oil on canvas, 138 x 123 cm
The painting depicts the scene when Cornelia - the daughter of Scipio Africanus, the widow of consul Tiberius Gracchus and mother of Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus - refuses the crown of the King of Egypt and his marriage proposal. The style of La Hyre is the equivalent in painting that of Corneille and Racine in literature.