Marcus Curius Dentatus refuses the gifts of the Samnites

The painting appears to be based on popular comparisons of current events to historical heroism, though too little is known of the paintings previously located in the old Amsterdam Town Hall before it burned down in 1652 to be able to say whether the subjects were painted before. This painting shows a servant about to set a platter of roasted turnips on a table, while Dentatus turns around with a dismissive gesture. His dog approaches as if to see what the fuss is about, while a group of 12 figures seem surprised at the disinterest of Dentatus. The half-naked servant on the lower right holds a large platter above the Vianen ewer. The ewer was painted multiple times, but this is the largest painting that features it, and its position in the painting is at about eye-level, just above a poem relating the story told by the painting. It hangs above the mantelpiece in the mayor's room.

Several paintings of the same subject were painted after this one, so it is odd that in his catalog of paintings by Jan Steen, the art historian Hofstede de Groot in 1908 called Steen's version "The Roman Envoys inviting Cincinnatus to take command of the Army"^[3]

• 
  Adam van Vianen's ewer
• 
  The painting in the former mayor's room
• 
  Jan Steen's version of c. 1670

• Samnites