Fireback Tile Picture with Scipio, anonymous, c. 1615 - c. 1640

maiolica, h 153cm × w 38cm × d 3cm More details

The Roman General Scipio defeated Hannibal (opposite wall) and the Carthaginian Army during the Second Punic War. The tile tableaux with the two army leaders adorned the inside of a chimney, on either side of the flue. Painted on a white, reflective surface, the large figures will have appeared very lifelike in the dim hearth light.