The Triumphs of Caesar: 7. The Captives

The Captives, the seventh canvas in the Triumphs, depicts the defeated enemies paraded in chains before the Roman crowd. The display of conquered peoples was among the most dramatic elements of a Roman triumph, and Mantegna renders their humiliation with a dignity that acknowledges their suffering Andrea Mantegna combined a scholar's knowledge of Roman antiquity with extraordinary graphic precision, making Mantua a major center of Renaissance art under his long patronage.

The bound prisoners move through the composition with a heavy, reluctant gait that conveys their defeated condition. Mantegna differentiates each captive through costume and physiognomy, suggesting the diversity of Rome's conquered peoples — a scholarly attention to ethnographic detail.