2-888-257 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Finding of Romulus and Remus - from the picture by Pietro da Cortona, 1850. 'The accounts which several of the classical writers of antiquity have left us of the time-honoured legend of Faustulus, the shepherd, having found a she-wolf on the Tiber's banks mildly suckling two infants, in whose veins flowed not mere human hood, but the true Olympian ichor of "the immortal gods," and who, under the names of Romulus and Remus, grew up to be first great chieftains amongst their more mortal pastoral companions, and ultimately the founders of "The City," show what a firm hold the old traditions on the subject had taken of the popular mind in ancient Rome. The fable has inspired the celebrated Italian artist of modern times, Pietro da Cartona, with one of the most happily-conceived productions of his genius...'. From "Illustrated London News", 1850.