Jump to content

The Murder of Caesar (Piloty)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Murder of Caesar
The work
ArtistKarl von Piloty
Year1865

The Murder of Caesar is a 1865 painting by Karl von Piloty which depicts the assassination of Julius Caesar.

Description

[edit]

The painting positions Caesar seated, crowned, and robed in a scarlet toga, as the centre and focus of composition.[1] Tillius Cimber is depicted pulling on Caesar's toga to both distract and pin him, as Servilius Casca sneaks behind Caesar and attempts to stab Caesar with a dagger.

Reception

[edit]

The Contemporary Review described the paintings as "a highly realistic, dramatic, not to say sporadic, composition". "Pitloy paints for effect, his art indeed would be artificial were it not empathetically real. The perfecting of a sensational style has been with him for a life study."[2] The Art Journal stated that it was "truly a great work".[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Multiple (1867). The Art Journal: The Illustrated Catalogue of the Industry of All Nations. Vol. 14. National Library of the Netherlands: Virtue. p. 208.
  2. ^ Multiple (1867). The Contemporary Review. Vol. 6. National Library of the Netherlands: The Contemporary Review. p. 164.
[edit]