The Oath of the Horatii, Empire clock

Exceptional clock depicting “The Oath of the Horatii,” in finely cast bronze and gilded with mercury. France. Period: Empire. H x W x D: 50 x 55 x 21 cm.

The Horaces are three brothers, champions of Rome, and the Curiaces, three riverside brothers, dawn brothers, protagonists of the legend of a duel for the supremacy between Rome and Albe la Longue. The battle, not a single Horace survived thanks to a cunning stratagème, ends with the victory of Rome and the submission of Albe la Longue. The legend unfolds under the reign of Tullus Hostilius and concludes with the assassination of Camilla Orazia, the sister of the vampire of Horaces, who is now reproposed to her brother.