This work and Constantine’s Triumphal Entry in Rome (P238) are among the earliest examples of the collaboration between Domenico Gargiulo (also known as Micco Spadaro) and Viviano Codazzi, in which the former painted the figures and the latter, the architectural backgrounds. These two paintings were part of a group that also included Lanfranco’s depiction of an emperor’s triumphal entry into Rome: Triumph of a Roman Emperor with two Captive Kings (Patrimonio Nacional, Inv. 100113395). That ceremony began with the general’s declamation to his troops and a sacrifice to the gods, both of which appear in works that Lanfranco painted for the Buen Retiro Palace (P236 and P2943). This was followed by the parade itself, which included the presence of the emperor, his troops, the defeated forces, trumpeters, the spoils, and so on. While the paintings from this series generally avoid identifying specific historical figures, here the traditional titles have been kept. Their references to emperors Constantine (P238) and Vespasian (P237) are explained, in the first case, because a group of angels carrying a cross constitute an unmistakable reference to that figure, and in the second, because two emperors appear. In the latter work, the emperor in the foreground to the right may be Vespasian, while his son Tito could be the figure that appears further back, in front of the architecture. As in other paintings from the same series, their figures are arranged in a manner that recalls friezes, with a markedly processional character that suggests these two paintings may have been intended to hang across from each other.

Viviano Codazzi employed an architectural repertory that combines classical elements such as the Coliseum or the Arch of Constantine with others from the Renaissance, such as the Palazzo dei Conservatori on the Capitolio, or the dome of Saint Peter’s. These last two elements were not a part of his customary vocabulary. There are no indications that he modeled these works after classical friezes, and it seems much more likely that he drew on Giacomo Lauro’s antiquarian prints (which organize the fore and backgrounds in a similar fashion), or those by Antonie Lafréry, whose compact groups of figures with a stylized canon and an elegant air have sometimes been compared to those of Agostino Tassi.

In recent decades, efforts have been made to establish the existence of a series of paintings related to the History of Rome -including the present work- that Philip IV’s representatives would have commissioned in that city and in Naples around 1634 for the Buen Retiro Palace. Today, twenty-eight extant works can be related to this project (most in the Museo del Prado or Patrimonio Nacional), along with another six mentioned in Charles II’s will but now lost or destroyed. This total of thirty-four paintings constitutes the largest group from the Retiro, including the Hall of Realms. The only larger group consists of mythological scenes that the king’s brother, Cardinal-Infante don Fernando, commissioned Rubens to paint for the Torre de la Parada. The size of the Roman group is the first indication of its importance in the new palace.

Úbeda de los Cobos, A., El Palacio del Rey Planeta. Felipe IV y el Buen Retiro, Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2005, p.190-191