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Secondary sourcePainting1480

Three Ancient Heroes: Decius Mus, Scipio Africanus and Cicero

Domenico Ghirlandaio · 1480

A 1480 fresco in Florence showing Cicero alongside two other ancient Roman heroes, honoured as a civic model.

This Renaissance fresco honours Cicero as one of three ancient heroes, reflecting his status as a civic model.

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Fresco in an arched niche showing three standing men in ancient-style dress: on the left Decius Mus in a red cloak pointing upward, in the center Scipio in armor and plumed helmet holding a spear, and on the right Cicero in a purple robe holding a fasces. Above are two round medallions with profile busts, and below is a gold-lettered Latin inscription on a blue-patterned wall.
Domenico Ghirlandaio, Three Ancient Heroes: Decius Mus, Scipio Africanus and Cicero, 1480. Palazzo Vecchio, Florence.

About this source

What it is

This fresco was painted by Domenico Ghirlandaio in 1480 and is located in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. It shows three men in ancient dress standing in an arched niche: Decius Mus, Scipio Africanus, and Cicero, each holding symbolic objects, with portrait medallions above and a Latin inscription below.

Why it matters

By grouping Cicero with Decius Mus and Scipio Africanus, the fresco presents him as one of the great heroic figures of ancient Rome, worthy of admiration by the citizens of Renaissance Florence. This reflects how Renaissance Italy looked back to Roman history and rhetoric for models of civic virtue and republican government, nearly 1,500 years after Cicero's own lifetime.

Look closer

  • Why might Florence want to display Cicero next to military heroes like Scipio and Decius Mus?
  • What do the objects each figure holds suggest about how they were remembered?
  • What does this fresco tell you about Renaissance ideas of civic virtue rather than about the real historical Cicero?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Cicero on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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