Barbarian Ancestors

Rome was the ideal pattern for Empires and because of that there was mostly a close relation in France between French - i.e. Napoleonic history - and ancient Rome. So the French needed much more time to discover their sympathies for their barbarian ancestors than their German neighbors.

That changed with the French defeat 1871 and the end of the Empire of Napoleon III. Also in France now appeared paintings with fierce barbarian warriors as symbols of natural, national power.

Some of the best of this kind of paintings were from the French painter Joseph-Noël Sylvestre (1847-1926). It’s clear that he is totally with the barbarians, who are cutting the Romans to pieces.

The Gaul Ducar decapitates the roman general Flaminius in the battle of Lake Trasimeno (1882)

The sack of Rome by the barbarians 410 (1890)

Crucifixion

On the first look it seems to be a normal religious painting, a crucifixion. But after a few seconds you will notice the other crosses more in the back. And maybe then you will remember that you have heard of slave revolts in Rome - probably you have seen the film Spartacus! So the tortured slaves (the working class) take here the place of Christ.

The Damned Field, Execution place in the Roman Empire (1878) by the Russian painter Fyodor Andreyevich Bronnikov (1827-1902).