Caesar Dictates His Commentaries (1812) by Pelagio PelagiQuirinale Palace
The episode is inspired by Plutarch's biography of Julius Caesar.
It is set in the confined space of a tent, which opens up onto the camp crowded with soldiers.
A sumptuous banner is raised on the wooden enclosure.
In the center of the scene, Julius Caesar stands wrapped in a luminous white mantle. He is sitting next to a tripod with zoomorphic legs decorated with scrolls, and is holding a stylus in his hand.
The commander is surrounded by scribes.
He is portrayed turning towards two scribes, who are leaning over slates while he is dictating his Commentaries.
Intended to decorate the vault of the Emperor's Imperial Cabinet, the centerpiece of his apartments, the great leader is portrayed to resemble Napoleon in this painting.
An unusual subject which has a precedent in the painting of Giorgio Vasari (approx. 1560) executed for the office of the Palazzo Vecchio in Firenze.
