Nine Discourses on Commodus, Part VII

Cy Twombly’s Dialogue with History and Gesture

Few artists have merged the raw energy of graffiti with the weight of classical myth as compellingly as Cy Twombly. In *Nine Discourses on Commodus, Part VII*, the American painter channels the chaotic reign of the Roman emperor Commodus—a figure notorious for his megalomania and brutality—through a language of frenetic scribbles, smudged chalk, and aggressive erasures. The work belongs to a 1963 series where Twombly dissected Commodus’s life in nine parts, each panel a visual essay on power, decay, and the fragility of legacy. Unlike traditional history painting, Twombly’s approach is not illustrative but embodied: the canvas becomes a site of struggle, where every mark feels like a confrontation between the artist’s hand and the weight of the past.

The composition’s dominant white ground, slashed with loops of graphite and bursts of red, evokes both a blackboard and a battlefield. As the Museum of Modern Art has noted, Twombly’s work often “collapses time,” and here the ancient and the immediate collide. The scrawled Roman numerals—VII—anchor the piece in its sequence, while the looping lines suggest the cyclical nature of history itself. There is no single focal point; instead, the eye is pulled into a rhythm of gestures that feel at once deliberate and impulsive. This tension between control and abandon is central to Twombly’s practice, where the act of marking the surface becomes as significant as the marks themselves.

Twombly and the Reinvention of Abstract Expressionism

By the early 1960s, Abstract Expressionism had been codified into a style associated with heroic masculinity and existential angst. Twombly, however, took the movement’s emphasis on process and pushed it into uncharted territory. Where Pollock’s drips suggested cosmic energy and Rothko’s color fields evoked spiritual transcendence, Twombly’s work—particularly in the *Nine Discourses* series—felt literary. His canvases were not just surfaces but pages, filled with allusions to poetry, mythology, and classical antiquity. This intellectual dimension set him apart from his New York School peers and aligned him more closely with European traditions, from Cy Twombly’s adopted home in Rome to his dialogues with artists like Alberto Burri.

The *Commodus* series emerged during a period of intense experimentation for Twombly. Having relocated to Italy in 1957, he was immersed in Mediterranean light, ruins, and the layered history of the Roman Empire. The emperor Commodus—who ruled from 180 to 192 AD and whose reign marked the decline of the “Five Good Emperors”—became a symbol of hubris and instability. Twombly’s choice to engage with this figure was not arbitrary: Commodus’s obsession with gladiatorial combat and his eventual assassination mirrored the artist’s own fascination with cycles of creation and destruction. As Tate curators have observed, Twombly’s work from this era “uses the past to interrogate the present,” a strategy that resonates deeply in *Part VII*, where the violence of Commodus’s era feels eerily contemporary.

Twombly’s *Nine Discourses* does not illustrate history—it performs it. The canvas becomes a stage where the artist’s hand and the specter of Commodus engage in a silent, eternal duel.

The Physicality of Thought: How *Part VII* Was Made

Surface as a Site of Erasure

The white ground of *Part VII* is not pristine but worked: a palimpsest of erased and overwritten marks. Twombly often used house paint as a base, applied in thin, uneven layers that allowed the texture of the canvas to remain visible. Over this, he deployed wax crayon, graphite, and oil paint in a process that involved as much removal as addition. The looping lines—some confident, others hesitant—suggest a mind in motion, where thoughts are formed and discarded in real time. The red accents, applied with a ragged urgency, evoke blood or the sealing wax of imperial decrees, tying the abstract gestures to their historical subject.

The Role of Text and Numerals

Unlike earlier works where Twombly incorporated legible poetry or names, *Part VII* reduces text to its most elemental forms: the Roman numeral VII and a series of illegible scribbles. The numeral serves as both a title and a structural device, anchoring the composition in its sequence while the surrounding marks dissolve into pure rhythm. The contrast between the precision of the numeral and the chaos of the loops creates a tension that is central to the work’s power. Twombly’s use of text here is not about communication but about presence—the way words and numbers can haunt a space long after their meaning has faded.

Where to Hang *Nine Discourses on Commodus, Part VII*

This print’s monochromatic palette and dynamic composition make it a striking focal point in modern interiors. The 30×40 cm (12×16”) size is ideal for:

• Minimalist living rooms, where its graphic energy contrasts with clean lines and neutral tones. Hang it above a low console table or opposite a large window to balance its intensity.
• Home libraries or studies, where its literary and historical references resonate. The white background harmonizes with bookshelves, while the red accents echo leather-bound spines.
• Gallery walls, paired with other abstract works or black-and-white photography. Its textural quality invites closer inspection, rewarding prolonged engagement.

Avoid overly busy walls; this piece demands space to breathe. In well-lit areas, the subtle variations in the white ground—where Twombly’s erasures and reworkings are visible—become more pronounced, revealing the artwork’s depth.

More Works by Cy Twombly

Explore the breadth of Twombly’s practice, from mythological cycles to pure abstraction, each framed with the same care and precision.

Cy Twombly

Hero and Leandro (A Painting in Four Parts, Part III)

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Cy Twombly

Untitled, Part VIII

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Cy Twombly

Lepanto, Part VI

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Cy Twombly

Quattro Stagioni I: Estate

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