The "Triumph" of Aemilius Paulus.

After Monsiau, Nicolas-André by Vieth-Varenne. The "Triumph" of Aemilius Paulus. "Triomphe de Paul Emile" (2eme P.tie) Paris impremier par Jaques Prudhome c1820
Panoramic lithograph showing part of the Roman triumph of Aemilius Paulus after the painting byNicolas-André Monsiau, exhibited in Paris 1789. Modern hand colour
The image shows part of the Roman "Triumph " accorded to Aemilius Paulus after his victory over Perseus at Pydna and the conquest of Macedonia and the ending of the third Macedonian War

The Third Macedonian War broke out in 171 BC, when king Perseus of Macedon defeated a Roman army led by the consul Publius Licinius Crassus in the battle of Callinicus. After two years of results indecisive for either side, Paullus was elected consul again in 168 BC (with Gaius Licinius Crassus as colleague). As consul, he was appointed by the senate to deal with the Macedonian war. Shortly afterwards, on June 22, he won the decisive battle of Pydna. Perseus of Macedonia was made prisoner and the Third Macedonian War ended.
To set an example, Paullus ordered the killing of 500 prominent Macedonians known for their opposition to Rome. He also exiled many more to Italy and confiscated their belongings in the name of Rome but, according to Plutarch, kept too much to himself. Other sources report that he kept for himself only the extensive royal library,[2] in which act he set an example for later Roman generals, such as Lucullus. On setting out on the return to Rome in 167 BC, his legions were displeased with their share of the plunder. To keep them happy, Paullus decided on a stop in Epirus, a kingdom suspected of sympathizing with the Macedonian cause. The region had been already pacified, but Paullus ordered the sacking of seventy of its towns. 150,000 people were enslaved and the region was left to bankruptcy.
Paullus' return to Rome was glorious. With the immense plunder collected in Macedonia and Epirus, he celebrated a spectacular triumph, featuring no less than the captured king of Macedonia himself, and his sons, putting an end to the dynasty. As a gesture of acknowledgment, the senate awarded him the surname (cognomen) Macedonicus. This was the peak of his career. In 164 BC he was elected censor. He fell ill, appeared to be recovering, but relapsed within three days and died during his term of office in 160 BC. Bright and clean; modern hand colour; lower right corner torn off and repaired with different paper.

Nicolas-André Monsiau, (1755 - 1837).
Neo-Classical painter.
Monsiau's first master at the Academy school was Peyron, who was later the unsuccessful challenger for the leadership of the neo-classical movement. The young artist was fortunate in finding a patron in the person of the Marquis de Corberon who paid the expenses of his trip to Rome, where he spent four years from 1776 at the Academy. His fellow students there included David Unable to exhibit at the Royal Academy when he first returned to Paris at the end of 1780, he was keen, nonetheless, to demonstrate his talents and showed one painting at each of the Salons de la Correspondence of 1781 (and 1782 (. In 1787 he was agrée at the Academy with Alexander Breaking in Bucephalus and, two years later, was admitted as a full member with The Death of Agis. Monsiau was an accomplished draftsman and, unlike many of his contemporaries, was ready to exhibit his talents in a series of finished drawings of historical subjects at the Salons. In 1787, for example, he showed drawings titled The Triumph of Paul-Emile, The Death of Cato of Utica, and the Death of Phocion,while he showed The Death of Cleopatra at the Salon of 1789.
With the coming of the Revolution and the opening up of the Salons to non-Academicians, Monsiau responded to the challenge with a greater and broader range of entries. In 1791, among other works, he showed a portrait, a watercolor of Venus with her Family, a genre scene of a child playing cards, and our painting, the large scale Ulysses Returning to his Palace after Slaying the Lovers of Penelope, Ordering the Women to Remove their Bodies. He only exhibited two works in the next Salon, but in 1798 showed his Zeuxis Choosing His Models (inspired by Vincent's splendid composition of the same title (Paris, Louvre, .). Despite his stylistic preference for neo-classical froideur, which he did not wholly abandon for another decade, he was one of the first artists of David's generation to embrace the painting of modern historical subjects. i. After the restoration in 1814 he returned to neo-classical subject matter, producing fewer modern historical or literary subjects. He also painted a few portraits and genre scenes, showing for the last time in public at the Salon of 1833, four years before his death.
328 by 703mm (13 by 27¾ inches).   ref: 2684  €160