Description:
Alexander is shown in a standing position with his weight on his right leg, his left leg set back. He is wearing a short peplos which is elegantly draped over his body, and a mantle around his shoulders. His left arm is bent at the elbow, once holding an object, and his right arm was once resting on a club. The hair in long wavy locks makes it possible to recognise him as Alexander (see Bieber (1964), pl. XXXV, 69-70); these locks recall a leonine mane, compare the lion skin worn by Herakles, one of the typical characteristics of Alexander's portraiture.
Ancient authors record that Alexander the Great was so pleased with the depictions of himself that were created by Lysippos that he decreed no other sculptor should make his image, which shows that Alexander understood the propagandistic importance of his image and the need to control it. Plutarch wrote:
The outward appearance of Alexander is best represented by the statues of him which Lysippus made, and it was by this artist alone that Alexander himself thought it fit that he should be modelled. For those peculiarities which many of his successors and friends afterwards tried to imitate, namely, the poise of the neck, which was bent slightly to the left, and the melting glance of his eyes, this artist has accurately observed (Plutarch, Alexander, 4.1 in the translation by Perrin).
Classical writers also said that Alexander's hair was blonde and wavy, but that something terrifying could also be seen in the king’s face (Aelian, Historical Miscellany, 12.14, translated by Wilson; Trofimova (2010), p. 23).
The ruler’s external appearance, especially his face, was presented in numerous depictions. His image was revolutionary not only in terms of art: it affected people’s conceptions of other people, of heroes and gods, of the nature of power, of the virtues, of the limits of what could be achieved. Even during the ruler’s lifetime his portraits were transformed into a series of stereotypes ("the inspired hero", "the deified ruler", "the warrior-conqueror", "the tragic hero", and so on). The classical tradition has provided us with a considerable body of evidence (written sources, inscriptions and surviving monuments) for the existence of numerous statues, group sculptures, works by painters and stone-cutters portraying Alexander. During his lifetime most of these monuments were commissioned by Alexander himself, but they were also ordered by his father Philip II, by Alexander’s court, by cities in Greece and Asia Minor and various private individuals. After his death his portraits were acquired by diadochi (his successors), kings and dynasties, city-states and leagues of cities. Series of coins with his portrait, intended to confirm the legitimacy of the succession of power, were minted in all the Hellenistic kingdoms. The most common images were small private commissions, statuettes for domestic cults and engraved gems (Trofimova (2010), p. 22).
His image in works of art exerted an unprecedented influence on marbles, bronzes, ivories, frescoes, mosaics, coins, medals, even painted pottery and reliefware. As a result, Alexander's physiognomy became the most famous in history. But these representations of the ruler intended to transmit a set of carefully crafted clichés that mobilised the notion "Alexander" for diverse ends and diverse audiences, rather than a likeness of Alexander (Stewart, 1993).
Bibliography:
Margarete Bieber, Alexander the Great in Greek and Roman Art (Chicago, Argonaut, 1964);
Bernadotte Perrin, Plutarch, Lives VII, Demosthenes and Cicero, Alexander and Caesar (Loeb Classical Library, 99) (Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1919);
The Search for Alexander. Supplement to the Catalogue, October 27, 1982 to January 3, 1983 (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1982);
The Search for Alexander. Supplement to the Catalogue, 5 March to 10 July 1983 (Toronto, Royal Ontario Museum, 1983);
Andrew Stewart, Faces of Power. Alexander's Image and Hellenistic Politics (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1993);
Anna Trofimova, "With Face Turned Towards the Heavens" in Anna Trofimova a.o. (eds.), The Immortal Alexander the Great. The Myth, the Reality, his Journey, his Legacy. Catalogue for the Exhibition from 18 September 2010 to 18 March 2011 (Amsterdam, Hermitage, 2010), p. 21-31;
N.G. Wilson, Aelian, Historical Miscellany (Loeb Classical Library, 486) (Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1997);
Nicholas Yalouris - Manolis Andronikos a.o., The Search for Alexander. An Exhibition (Boston, Little, Brown and Co., 1980).
Dating:
Roman, circa 1st century C.E.
Size:
Height 8.5 cm.
Provenance:
UK private collection E.B., formed between 1965 and 1975; thence with Kunsthandel Mieke Zilverberg, Amsterdam.
Condition:
Intact, the objects he was once holding missing. With a lovely red, brown and green patina. Mounted.
Price:
€ 10,000
Stock number:
C2101