The painting represents the momentous moment in which several senators, representing the roman people, go in search of the patrician lucius quinctius cincinnatus, a hero dedicated to farming, to appoint him dictator of rome and ask him to confront the people who threatened the city. Cincinnatus had been appointed consul in 460 bc. And later he would be appointed dictator of rome twice, in 458 bc. And 439 bc, returning to his work on his estate next to the tiber river after restoring peace. This argument from classical antiquity was evoked with certain frequency by european art since the baroque as an example of honesty and political ethics, exaltation of the lack of ambition and attachment to the power of the good ruler and theoretical justification of absolute regimes and temporary dictatorships to restore order to nations in times of chaos. Object Type: painting. Date: circa 1806. Dimensions: height: 160 cm (62.9 in); width: 215 cm (84.6 in). Medium: oil on canvas. Collection: Museo del Prado. Juan Antonio Ribera - Cincinato abandona el arado para dictar leyes a Roma, 1806
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