Catilina en zijn soldaten drinken bloed 1819

Bartolomeo Pinelli made this etching of Catiline and his soldiers drinking blood sometime in the late 18th or early 19th century in Italy. The act of drinking blood together was meant to seal the conspirators’ pact to overthrow the Roman Republic in 63 BCE. But such visual representations of secrecy and conspiracy also reflect contemporary concerns with secret societies and the legacy of the French Revolution. It presents a classical narrative to reflect on contemporary anxieties about power, loyalty and social order. Pinelli likely drew on sources in the history painting tradition, combining them with popular printmaking techniques to circulate his work. To understand Pinelli’s image better, we might research the classical sources he drew on. We can examine the history of printmaking in Italy, as well as the complex politics of the Napoleonic era, to see how his work challenged the art institutions of his time.