# The Triumph of Marius

**Giovanni Battista Tiepolo** (Italian, 1696–1770)  
1729  
Oil on canvas  
Irregular painted surface, 220 x 128 5/8 in. (558.8 x 326.7 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 65.183.1. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437788).

## About this work

The Roman general Gaius Marius rides in triumph in a chariot, while before him the defeated Numidian king Jugurtha walks in chains, surrounded by soldiers, spoils and onlookers. Tiepolo painted the huge canvas in 1729 as one of ten scenes from Roman history for the great hall of the Palazzo Dolfin in Venice. The theatrical sweep of the procession, set against a high architectural backdrop, shows the young Tiepolo emerging as the great decorative painter of his age.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo painted this in 1729, aged 33. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Giovanni Battista Tiepolo](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/giovanni-battista-tiepolo)

Italian, 1696–1770; born in Venice; died in Madrid

Tiepolo was the leading decorative painter of eighteenth-century Europe, covering ceilings and walls with airy skies, foreshortened figures and luminous colour. After establishing himself in Venice, he worked with his sons Giandomenico and Lorenzo on the frescoes of the Residenz at Würzburg in 1750–53, and in 1762 he went to Madrid to decorate the Royal Palace for Charles III, remaining there until his death. Rinaldo and Armida, the lovers of Tasso’s epic Jerusalem Delivered, were subjects he painted more than once.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Paintings
- The artist was 33
- Real size: about 220 × 129 in (559 × 327 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 18 × 24 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 18th century
- Subjects: Men, Women, Horses, Chariots
- Colour: black
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1165.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1165/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-triumph-of-marius-met-437788).