VICTOR HONORÉ JANSSENS (Belgium, 1658 - 1736). "Rhea Silvia suckling Romul and Rem". Oil on canvas. Re-drawn. Measurements: 68 x 89 cm. According to the historian Tito Livio, Rea Silvia was the daughter of the king of Alba Longa, but due to the ascension to the throne of her uncle, the young woman was forced to be a Vestal (Priestesses who had to remain virgins). However, Rhea Silvia was attacked by the god Mars, who raped her, leaving her pregnant by Romul and Rem. When the babies were born, Rhea Silvia's uncle condemned the woman to be buried alive and the babies to death. The servant who was to take care of both tasks took pity on the young woman, so that he did not kill Romul and Rem, but left them to the servant of the she-wolf Luperca. This is the precise moment when Rhea, together with her two children, is found by the servant who seems to take an interest in the children, as he reaches out his hand to them in a gesture of tenderness. In the next shot of the scene we can see how a character armed with a spear tries to reach an animal that looks like a she-wolf with the intention of wounding her. The aesthetic characteristics of the work bring closer to the aesthetic production of Victor Honoré Janssens, who was a tapestry designer and a leading Flemish painter of religio and mythological works. He spent an important part of his career abroad and worked in Germany, Italy, Vienna and London. He was court painter to Emperor Charles VI of Atria in Vienna. Janssens studied draughtsman and was entered as a pupil in the register of the Guild of Saint Luke in Brsels in 1675. After working in the studio of Lancelot Volders, he spent a period in the district of Oldenburg, where he worked as court painter to Joachim Frederick, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön. Janssens remained for around nine years in Italy and visited the country's principal capitals to study the great masters. The artist returned to Brsels in 1689 and was admitted to the Guild of Saint Luke. Following the bombardment of Brsels by the French in 1695, Janssens wasmissioned to produce a series of paintings for the Brsels City Hall to replace those destroyed during the attack on the city. He also worked for local guilds and churches. He was eventually appointed court painter to Emperor Charles VI of Atria and resided in Vienna from 1719 to 1722.Dimensions: 68 x 89 cm.