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This scene envisages a Roman ceremony marking the deification of the deceased Emperor Trajan in 117 CE. It shows a colossal burning pyre surmounted by a wax effigy of the emperor being kissed by his successor. Lequeu turned to contemporary sources for details as he envisioned the ancient ritual.
Jean-Jacques Lequeu (1757–1826)
Apotheosis of Trajan, after 1802 (inscribed 1794)
Pen and black ink, brown wash
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Departement des Estampes et de la photographie