Trophée des Alpes | Digital Painting by AJ Brockman

"What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others." – Pericles. This was a private commission for a dear friend of mine to honor her heritage. After growing up in the same town as this Roman monument, she always wanted a painting to capture what she saw every day out her window growing up. In turn, I began to research the history and was equally intrigued by the importance of this structure. I feel my best work is when I can connect with the subject matter on a deep level, and although I have never seen this in the flesh, I feel like I have through a distant memory. Painting rigid architecture isn't necessarily the hardest thing, But capturing it's essence surely is.

The Tropaeum Alpium (Latin 'Trophy of the Alps', French: Trophée des Alpes), is a Roman trophy (tropaeum) celebrating the emperor Augustus's decisive victory over the tribes who populated the Alps. The monument's ruins are in La Turbie (France), a few kilometers from the Principality of Monaco. Augustus Caesar (23 September 63 BC – 19 August 14 AD) was the founder of the Roman Principate and considered the first Roman emperor, controlling the Roman Empire from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He was born Gaius Octavius into an old and wealthy equestrian branch of the plebeian gens Octavia. His maternal great-uncle was Julius Caesar.

The Trophy was built c. 6 BC in honor of Augustus to celebrate his definitive victory over the 45 tribes who populated the Alps. The Alpine populations were defeated during the military campaign to subdue the Alps conducted by the Romans between 16 and 7 BC. The monument was built of stone from the Roman quarry located about 500 meters away, where traces of sections of carved columns are visible in the stone. The monument as partially restored is 35 meters high. When built, according to the architect, the base measured 35 meters in length, the first platform 12 meters in height, and the rotunda of 24 columns with its statue of an enthroned Augustus is 49 meters high.

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