"Queen Tomyris With The Head of Cyrus"

c. 1753

"QUEEN TOMYRIS WITH THE HEAD OF CYRUS" (Italian, c. 1753) and oil on canvas ceiling painting by Francesco Salvator Fontebasso (Italian, 1707-1769) installed above the main staircase of The Elms. The foreground depicts an enthroned Queen Tomyris surrounded by courtiers beneath a red and gold canopy raised on a white marble staircase. Below, stands a warrior before his soldiers presenting her with the head of Cyrus the Great, King of Persia. The background features classical architecture and a balcony filled with onlookers. The sides (19th century) are grisaille decorated with male nudes, mascarons, and scrolling foliage. Queen Tomyris was the ruler of the barbarous Massagetae, who were responsible for the execution by decapitation of Cyrus the Great, founder of the Persian Empire, and Master of Western Asia. The scene was the subject of a celebrated painting by Peter Paul Rubens. The decapitated head of Cyrus was overpainted by the studios of Jules Allard et ses fils ca. 1898 for installation in The Elms to render the scene less horrific.

This painting was originally located in the Palazzo Duodo a Sta Maria Zobenigo in Venice. It was removed in 1888 and made its way to The Elms in 1901, where it was placed above the staircase as a ceiling canvas.

Italian

Oil on canvas

Purchased by The Preservation Society of Newport County, 1962.

PSNC.10549