(Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, USA)
A painting by the Dutch artist Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912). This painting shows a scene from Roman history. According to ancient sources, the Roman emperor Caligula (12-41 AD) was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy by officers of the Praetorian Guard, senators, and courtiers. As part of the wider conspiracy, Caligula's wife, Milonia Caesonia and her daughter Julia Drusilla were murdered just hours after Caligula's death. The Roman soldier Gratus found Caligula's uncle, Claudius, hiding behind a palace curtain, and he was spirited out of the city by a sympathetic faction of the Praetorian Guard to their nearby camp where Claudius was proclaimed the next emperor. Tadema shows these events as if they happened at the same time: the bodies of Caligula, Milonia Caesonia and Julia Drusilla lie on the ground. A soldier pulls back a curtain and finds a terrified Claudius. Painting from 1871.
