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The subject is drawn from the Aeneid and represents the victory of Aeneas over Turnus in the concluding section of Virgil's epic poem. Aeneas's journey has ended at the mouth of the Tiber in Latium. Turnus, King of the Rutuli, is deeply hostile to the arrival and settlement of the Trojans in Central Italy, and becomes their sworn enemy, unleashing war against them but suffering defeat when he is killed by Aeneas in single combat. Aureliano Milani's vision of Latium is entirely invented. In order to provide a setting for the scene, he includes the Pantheon, one of the symbols of Rome, on the right.
The painting is signed and dated at centre right, on the pediment of the temple:
«AURELIANO MILANI. M.DCCVIII»
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