Lucius Albinius giving his cart to the Vestal Virgins instead of to his own family as they flee from the invasion of Rome by the Gauls. Mezzotint by J. Bernhard after H.F. Füger.

An episode in Livy, Ab urbe condita, V.40. Rome was sacked by the Senones, a Gallic tribe, ca. 390 BC. "The Flamen of Quirinus and the Vestal virgins, without giving a thought to their own property, were deliberating as to which of the sacred things they ought to take with them, and which to leave behind, since they had not strength enough to carry all, and also what place would be the safest for their custody. They thought best to conceal what they could not take in earthen jars and bury them under the chapel next to the Flamen's house, where spitting is now forbidden. The rest they divided amongst them and carried off, taking the road which leads by the Pons Sublicius to the Janiculum. Whilst ascending that hill they were seen by L. Albinius, a Roman plebeian who with the rest of the crowd who were unfit for war was leaving the city. Even in that critical hour the distinction between sacred and profane was not forgotten. He had his wife and children with him in a wagon, and it seemed to him an act of impiety for him and his family to be seen in a vehicle whilst the national priests should be trudging along on foot, bearing the sacred vessels of Rome. He ordered his wife and children to get down, put the virgins and their sacred burden in the wagon, and drove them to Caere, their destination." (Livy, History of Rome. English translation by the Rev. Canon Roberts, New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., 1912)

The Vestal virgins are shown carrying the household gods of Rome, urns etc. In the background, left, the Janiculum; right, another of the hills of Rome

[Vienna?], [between 1800 and 1809?]

1 print : mezzotint ; image 44.8 x 60.2 cm

L'Albinus. Brennus ayant pris Rome tous ceux qui n'etoient pas en état de la défendre, prirent la fuite. L'Albinus ayant rencontré les Vestales qui s'enfuyoient a pied, fit descendre sa femme et ses enfants de son chariot pour y faire monter, preferant l'honneur de la religion au salut de sa famille. H. Füger pinx. Bernhard sc.

"Bernhard sc.": possibly referring to the J. Bernhard, a mezzotinter recorded in Vienna by G.K. Nagler, Neues allgemeines Künstler-Lexicon, 1801-1866, vol. 1, p. 447 ("Kupferstecher zu Wien, um den Anfang unsers Jahrhunderts. Treffliche Blätter nennt Füssly die Lautenschlägerin nach Carravaggio (1804) und den lustigen Flamänder, nebst den Pendant, in Schwarzkunst")

Antony Griffiths and Frances Carey, German printmaking in the age of Goethe, London 1994, p. 88-89, no. 44 (a mezzotint by a different mezzotinter, Pichler, after the same composition)

Wellcome Collection 3063613i