Bronze Sculpture of Mucius Scaevola (c. 1875 France)

  83.00 cm high

  32.68 inches high

Very fine and smooth green patina

A very Fine Bronze Signed by the Foundry Ch.Chautier after a model of
Louis-Pierre Deseine (1749–1822)

Gaius Mucius Scaevola was a Roman youth, famous for his bravery.

In 508 BC, during the war between Rome and Clusium, the Clusian king Lars Porsena laid siege to Rome. Mucius, with the approval of the Roman Senate sneaked into the Etruscan camp and attempted to murder Porsena. His plot failed because he misidentified Porsena and killed instead Porsena's secretary. Mucius was captured, and famously declared to Porsena: "I am Gaius Mucius, a citizen of Rome. I came here as an enemy to kill my enemy, and I am as ready to die as I am to kill. We Romans act bravely and, when adversity strikes, we suffer bravely." He also declared that he was one of three hundred other Romans willing to give their own life to kill Porsenna.

To prove his valour, Mucius thrust his hand into one of the Etruscan camp fires, thereby earning for himself and his descendants the cognomen Scaevola, meaning 'left-handed'. Porsenna, shocked at the youth's bravery, dismissed him from the Etruscan camp, free to return to Rome. At the same time, the king also sent ambassadors to Rome to offer peace.

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