great sum for those days. Sir Richard Wallace obtained it with other armour which he bought from the Count de Nieuwerkerke. This shield was illustrated in an engraving by N. C. Goodnight as the frontispiece to one of the earliest works on ancient weapons, entitled "Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons," written by Francis Grose and published in 1786. Made at a period in which the Italian artist and armourer still worked in harmony, this shield deserves to rank as one of the finest productions of its kind extant. Executed in the spirited and broad manner of the Negroli, it attains a grandeur of effect in its general design that is lacking in the more highly wrought shields of a later date.
In the centre of the Wallace shield is a figure subject on a large scale occupying nearly the whole surface. The embossing is in high relief. The face of the metal is chased, richly plated with gold and silver, and damascened in the same metals, all the exposed surface of the iron being russeted. The subject chosen for the enrichment of the central panel is a composition of figures representing Scipio receiving the keys of Carthage after the battle of Zama, 202 B.C. In the extreme centre of the shield is seated Publius Cornelius Scipio (afterwards called Africanus). He is dressed in complete armour of Roman fashion, holding in his left hand a baton, the right hand extended to receive the proffered keys. Behind him are standing the generals of his army, the foremost of whom may, on account of the semi-*oriental nature of his armour, be taken to represent the Numidian Prince, Masinissa, who assisted Scipio in many of his campaigns. Above the heads of this group can be seen the chariot horses tended by negroes, and beyond them the tops of the pitched tents. A little to the right and just behind the figure of Scipio is an allegorical winged figure of Fame robed in a richly-striped and flowing mantle; in her right hand she holds a trumpet which she is in the act of raising to her lips. At her feet is the figure of a child, genius, holding a palm branch, while from above flies down another holding a crown. With her body slightly bent in submission, a majestic female figure, emblematical of Carthage, offers with her right hand the keys of the city to Scipio; while with her left she points over her shoulder to the procession of personages passing through the city gate, in many cases laden with offerings, the two foremost of whom are possibly intended for Hasdrubal and Syphax.
The city of Carthage is seen on one side of the composition in the middle distance, the outer wall and moat in perspective, at the end of which is a second gate open and with the drawbridge down, from which issues the
