Horatius Cocles Defends the Roman Bridge against Porsenna, ca. 1480

Title

Horatius Cocles Defends the Roman Bridge against Porsenna

Painter

• Florentine Master ca. 1480

Period Produced

• 15th century

School

• Renaissance

Object Type

• painting (artwork)

Physical Description

Poplar

Material

• poplar wood

Technique

• mixed technique

Institution

• Städel Museum

Departement

• Old Masters 1300 - 1800

Collection

• Städelsches Kunstinstitut

Creditline

Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main

Picture Copyright

Public Domain

Acquisition

Acquired in 1890

Genre

• historical narration
• portrayal of a historical event
• city view

Main Motif

• Horatius Cocles
• horseman
• force
• bridge
• Pons Sublicius (Rome)
• Rome
• Tiber
• Trajan's Column (Rome)
• man
• group of people

Persons Shown

• Horatius Cocles

Associated Persons and Institutions

• Fra Filippo Lippi
• Porsena (king of Clusium)
• Spurius Larcius
• Titus Livius
• Titus Herminius

Illustrated Passage

• Livius: Ab urbe condita, 2,10
• Polybios: Historien, 6. Buch, Kapitel 55

Associated Source

• Francesco Petrarca: Trionfi

Primary

• 98B(COCLES)41 Horatius Cocles at the Pons Sublicius: single-handed he keeps the Etruscans at bay while the bridge is broken down by the Romans behind him; he escapes by jumping into the Tiber

Secondary

• 25I1 city-view in general; 'veduta'
• 61E(ROMA) names of cities and villages (ROMA)
• 61F(PONS SUBLICIUS (Rom)) names of historical buildings, sites, streets, etc. (PONS SUBLICIUS (Rom))
• 46C112 bridge
• 25H213 river
• 61D(TEVERE) geographical names of countries, regions, mountains, rivers, etc. (TEVERE) (TEVERE)
• 61F(TRAJANSSÄULE (Rom)) names of historical buildings, sites, streets, etc. (TRAJANSSÄULE (Rom))
• 45B the soldier; the soldier's life
• 45C41 (military) camp with tents
• 25H114 low hill country