Piloty shows Thusnelda the wife of the German superhero Arminius how she and other prisoners are driven through Rome in the Triumph of the victor Germanicus. That seems strange, because Piloty could have painted Arminius’ great victory over the Romans.But he’s more clever. The German prisoners are a people full of pride and dignity, while the Romans are fat and decadent. The emperor looks gloomy, he seems to suspect that the future conquerors of Rome are passing by.
"Thusnelda" was my aunt's name, born in 1914. The choice of such names implicated not only the memory of Germany's "glorious" history but a strong aversion against the roman catholic church, to this time very popular.
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