Skip to main content

Secondary sourcePainting1811-1812

Virgil Reading The Aeneid before Augustus, Livia and Octavia

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres · 1811-1812

An 1812 painting imagining Virgil reciting his poem to Augustus and his family, showing Octavia fainting at the mention of her dead son Marcellus.

Depicts Augustus as patron of poetry, listening to Virgil recite The Aeneid with his family.

Ask Augustus about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Painting of a laurel-crowned man holding a scroll beside a tall lamp. A young woman in a yellow dress faints back onto a stone bench as a man in a white tunic and red cloak gestures. A veiled woman sits nearby, and two men stand behind a blue drape.
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Virgil Reading the Aeneid before Augustus, Livia and Octavia, 1811-1812. Musée des Augustins, Toulouse.

About this source

What it is

This oil painting, also known as 'Tu Marcellus Eris', was made in 1811-1812 by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. It depicts Virgil reading his poem The Aeneid to Emperor Augustus, his wife Livia, and his sister Octavia, at the moment the poet mentions Octavia's dead son Marcellus, causing her to faint. Augustus's advisors Agrippa and Maecenas appear in the background. Ingres revisited this scene many times over his life, and the painting now hangs in the Musée des Augustins in Toulouse.

Why it matters

The scene is based on an ancient anecdote recorded by Aelius Donatus, long after Augustus's time. The painting shows how later centuries imagined Augustus as a great patron of literature and the Roman imperial family as a stage for personal tragedy and political power together.

Look closer

  • This scene was painted nearly 1800 years after Augustus lived — what might that mean for how accurate it is?
  • What does Ingres choose to show about the emotions and relationships of Augustus's family?
  • Why might an artist in the 19th century choose to paint a scene about an ancient emperor and poet?

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

More Augustus sources

Meet the AI Augustus →
Black-and-white photograph of a large weathered marble inscription in Latin capital letters, arranged in horizontal lines across several panels, with a large white area where stone is missing on the left side.Document

Primary source

Res Gestae Divi Augusti

Augustus · 14 AD

Line engraving of a curly-haired man in profile wearing a draped Roman cloak, one hand resting on a globe and the other holding a scroll, inside an ornate border. Title reads 'D. Oct. Augustus' with a text block below.Painting

Secondary source

Emperor Augustus with Globe

After Titian (engraving by A. Sadeler, after Titian) · between 1700 and 1799 (possibly 17th century)

Photograph of a marble sculpted head on a white background. It has short, wavy hair carved in curling locks, large almond-shaped eyes with heavy lids, a straight nose, and a small closed mouth. The neck is broken off at the bottom.Sculpture

Primary source

Relief Head of the Young Augustus

Marble statue of a standing man in armor, right arm raised pointing forward, with a draped cloak over his left arm. A small cupid-like figure with a dolphin stands beside his right leg. Plain dark grey background.Sculpture

Secondary source

Augustus of Prima Porta

c. 19 BCE or later

Marble enclosure of the Ara Pacis in a glass-walled museum hall, seen from the southwest. Carved relief panels decorate the walls, with a doorway and a stepped approach at the front.Artifact

Primary source

Ara Pacis

13-9 BCE

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Augustus now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions