Marcus Curius Dentatus refuses the gifts of the Samnites

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Marcus Curius Dentatus Refuses the Gifts of the Samnites

This is a 1656 oil painting by Govert Flinck. It shows the Roman consul Marcus Curius Dentatus turning down gold and silver gifts offered by Samnite envoys, choosing turnips instead. In the scene a servant is about to set a platter of roasted turnips on a table, while Dentatus looks back with a calm, dismissive gesture. A dog comes forward, and twelve onlookers react with surprise.

In the foreground a half‑naked servant holds a large platter that carries the Memorial Cup by Adam van Vianen. The cup’s image is central, and a poem about the story is shown above it. The painting hangs above the mantelpiece in the former mayors’ room of the Royal Palace of Amsterdam, the very place it was made to decorate.

Flinck created this work as a companion to Ferdinand Bol’s 1656 painting of Pyrrhus with Gaius Fabricius the elephant. Both were part of a commission to decorate Amsterdam’s new city hall with scenes of good government. The paintings remained in their rooms for centuries, even when the building later became a palace during the French occupation.

Flinck’s success led to him painting the lunettes for the galleries, though he died in 1660 before completing them all.