DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68873#0127
THE DEATH OF HANNIBAL.
LE MIRE THE YOUNGER.
Hannibal, shut up in his chamber, hears the ap-
proach of the Roman soldiers, commissioned to seize his
person. His retreat being cut off, he determines to
take away his life. Apprehensive of his danger, he re-
jects the prayers of a slave, who, upon his knees, entreats
him not to take the fatal poison ; and, putting the cup
to his lips, he appears to pronounce the following words,
“ Rome shall be delivered from the terror which I inspire;
of the degeneracy of the people, this day exhibits suffi-
cient proof. Their fathers had the generosity to caution
Pyrrhus to beware of a traitor who threatened his life;
they have now the baseness to engage Prusias to destroy
his guest and his friend.” He swallowed a subtle
poison, which he had, for a length of time, carried about
him, and expired in the 70th year of his age.
Such is the subject of the present picture, in which, to
shew the peril of the Carthaginian chieftain, the artist
has placed in the back-ground the Roman eagles,
The expression of Hannibal is striking and profound;
that of the slave presents, by its naivete, a judicious
contrast to the tranquil character of the hero. The
basso-relievo, at the top of the picture, recalls to the
memory the battle of Cannae, and the rings of the Ro-
man knights, deposited at the feet of the conqueror,
114
LE MIRE THE YOUNGER.
Hannibal, shut up in his chamber, hears the ap-
proach of the Roman soldiers, commissioned to seize his
person. His retreat being cut off, he determines to
take away his life. Apprehensive of his danger, he re-
jects the prayers of a slave, who, upon his knees, entreats
him not to take the fatal poison ; and, putting the cup
to his lips, he appears to pronounce the following words,
“ Rome shall be delivered from the terror which I inspire;
of the degeneracy of the people, this day exhibits suffi-
cient proof. Their fathers had the generosity to caution
Pyrrhus to beware of a traitor who threatened his life;
they have now the baseness to engage Prusias to destroy
his guest and his friend.” He swallowed a subtle
poison, which he had, for a length of time, carried about
him, and expired in the 70th year of his age.
Such is the subject of the present picture, in which, to
shew the peril of the Carthaginian chieftain, the artist
has placed in the back-ground the Roman eagles,
The expression of Hannibal is striking and profound;
that of the slave presents, by its naivete, a judicious
contrast to the tranquil character of the hero. The
basso-relievo, at the top of the picture, recalls to the
memory the battle of Cannae, and the rings of the Ro-
man knights, deposited at the feet of the conqueror,
114