Lot 786: The triumph of Aurelius, who brought the captured queen of Palmyra to Rome.

Oil on canvas. Relined. 152 x 415cm. Framed.

Expertise:
Dr. Cécile Michaud, Lima, July 2007:

...The work deals with the triumph of Aurelius, as he brings the queen Znobia to Rome, two years after occupying the city Palmyra(now Syria) in the year 272. After his victory parade in which he displayed the captured queen, he is said to have been very generous to her by allowing her to live in a villa near Tivoli until her death in 275 (...)

From an iconographic and iconological point of view, the painting is highly interesting as well, for it mixes historical loyalty with the fantasy of the artist, real and unreal worlds. Such juxtapositioning is quite typical for Schönfeld, as well as for the baroque period.

The VAN HAM painting displays masterful composition and an extremely qualitative elaboration, quite rare for the german period and if it ocurred, mostly with quite a different approach. The theme of the triumph of Aurelius, up to date unkown in the work of Schönfeld, as well as the monumental format makes this work a very valuable and special discovery.

We thank Dr. Michaud, Lima, for her kind support.