Slave Market in Ancient Rome

Painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme

Slave Market in Ancient Rome

Artist| Jean-Léon Gérôme
Year| circa 1884
Medium| Oil on canvas
Dimensions| 92 cm × 74 cm (36 in × 29 in)
Location| The State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia

Slave Market in Ancient Rome is a painting of about 1884 by French artist Jean-Léon Gérôme, who was known for combining classical, romantic, and realistic elements.[1]

## Description

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It depicts an Ancient Roman slave auction in progress. At the center of a high dais is a completely nude woman having been recently undressed by the slave dealer situated to her right, who is displaying her to the crowd as they bid on her. The woman shields her eyes with her right hand due to the humiliating predicament of being publicly exposed in front of such a large crowd. Another nude young woman sits fearfully at the first woman's feet, covering her breasts with her legs in a protective pose. Behind her is an older clothed woman holding an infant, she is surrounded by two naked children who she is probably the mother of. Her face has a look of dread as she knows she is to be auctioned soon, most likely being separated from her children forever. Behind the auction booth, two men are keeping an account of the sales, with a row of enslaved men looking on from behind them. It is one of his six slave-market scenes set in either ancient Rome or 19th-century Istanbul that Gérôme painted during his career.

## In Relation to A Roman Slave Market

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Jean Leon Gerome's A Roman Slave Market

The scheme and figures in this composition are more or less the reverse of his previous work, A Roman Slave Market, also completed in 1884.[2]

## See also

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* Slavery in Ancient Rome
* The Slave Market (Gérôme painting)

## References

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1. ^ "Slave Market in Ancient Rome". hermitagemuseum.org. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
2. ^ Ackerman, Gerald M. (1986). The Life and Work of Jean-Leon Gerome, with a catalogue raisonne. Sotheby's. ISBN 978-0856673115.

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Jean-Léon Gérôme

Paintings|

* The Cock Fight (1846)
* Portrait of Claude-Armand Gérôme (1848)
* The Duel After the Masquerade (1857, 1859)
* Phryne Before the Areopagus (1861)
* Cleopatra and Caesar (1866)
* The Slave Market (1866)
* The Death of Caesar (1867)
* Jerusalem (1867)
* The Execution of Marshal Ney (1868)
* Bashi-Bazouk (1869)
* Prayer in the Mosque (1871)
* Pollice Verso (1872)
* Pool in a Harem (1876)
* Reception of the Grand Condé at Versailles (1878)
* The Snake Charmer (1879)
* A Chat by the Fireside (1881)
* The Tulip Folly (1882)
* The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer (1883)
* Slave Market in Ancient Rome (1884)
* The Great Bath at Bursa (1885)
* Bonaparte Before the Sphinx (1886)
* Bathsheba (1889)
* Pygmalion and Galatea (1890)
* The Birth of Venus (1890)
* Truth Coming Out of Her Well (1896)
* Interior of a Mosque (1899)

Sculptures|

* Omphale (1887)
* Tanagra (1890)

Related|

* List of pupils
* Musée Jean-Léon Gérôme

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