DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0550
PORTRAITS OF ALEXANDER.
515
Again, Lysippos represented the great conqueror as one of an extensive
group executed in honor of bloody Granicos, Alexander's first battle in Asia.
In this work Alexander appeared with twenty-five mounted and nine foot sol-
diers, who fell about him at the first onslaught. This group formed one of the
attractions of Dion in Macedonia, Alexander's capital, and was removed to
Rome by Metellus, the conqueror of Perseus, the last king of Macedonia, and
at last adorned the Portico of Octavia.102? That these numerous riders
and foot-soldiers could not all have been exact portraits, as reported by Pliny, is
evident from the fact, that, with the exception of Alexander, the warriors por-
trayed all fell at Granicos, and were buried
there. Still another group in which Alex-
ander appeared was the hunting-scene, de-
scribed above (p. 460), in which Lysippos
was assisted by Leochares. While portraits
of Alexander in bronze and marble are not
infrequent, — a fact which may be under-
stood readily from their importance in Ro-
man times, — it is difficult to trace in them
reflections of the greatness of Lysippos'
power in portraiture. As the foundation
on which our knowledge of Alexander's
face is based, must be considered that mar-
ble bust, now in the Louvre, discovered
near Tivoli in 1779, by Azara, bearing Alex-
ander's name, and presented to Napoleon
Bonaparte by the finder. Here, although
the surface has been sadly injured, still we
-see the lion-like hair rising from the fore-
head, the small, voluptuous eyes, as well as
the defects of Alexander's neck seen in
the greater fulness on the left side. But more of the grandeur of Alexander's
face seems preserved to us in another marble head, now in the British Museum,
and originally from Alexandria (Fig. 218). The head is tipped slightly to
one side, giving it, however, a bold and daring look, which is increased by the
manner in which the hair is thrown up from the forehead and falls about the
neck. The form of the upper eyelids and the sweep of the eyebrows are such
as to give the eyes an almost sensual expression, which is increased by the
Mouth, in which the tongue is just visible between the teeth. That grand,
shaggy-haired head of the Capitol at Rome, long called Alexander, has so
remote a resemblance to these heads, that it is difficult to believe it to be even
an idealized portrait. Another and similarly formed head of the Uffizi, but
with an expression of pain, and called the Dying Alexander, is evidently but a
Fig. 218.
Portrait Head of Alexander the Great.
British Museum.
515
Again, Lysippos represented the great conqueror as one of an extensive
group executed in honor of bloody Granicos, Alexander's first battle in Asia.
In this work Alexander appeared with twenty-five mounted and nine foot sol-
diers, who fell about him at the first onslaught. This group formed one of the
attractions of Dion in Macedonia, Alexander's capital, and was removed to
Rome by Metellus, the conqueror of Perseus, the last king of Macedonia, and
at last adorned the Portico of Octavia.102? That these numerous riders
and foot-soldiers could not all have been exact portraits, as reported by Pliny, is
evident from the fact, that, with the exception of Alexander, the warriors por-
trayed all fell at Granicos, and were buried
there. Still another group in which Alex-
ander appeared was the hunting-scene, de-
scribed above (p. 460), in which Lysippos
was assisted by Leochares. While portraits
of Alexander in bronze and marble are not
infrequent, — a fact which may be under-
stood readily from their importance in Ro-
man times, — it is difficult to trace in them
reflections of the greatness of Lysippos'
power in portraiture. As the foundation
on which our knowledge of Alexander's
face is based, must be considered that mar-
ble bust, now in the Louvre, discovered
near Tivoli in 1779, by Azara, bearing Alex-
ander's name, and presented to Napoleon
Bonaparte by the finder. Here, although
the surface has been sadly injured, still we
-see the lion-like hair rising from the fore-
head, the small, voluptuous eyes, as well as
the defects of Alexander's neck seen in
the greater fulness on the left side. But more of the grandeur of Alexander's
face seems preserved to us in another marble head, now in the British Museum,
and originally from Alexandria (Fig. 218). The head is tipped slightly to
one side, giving it, however, a bold and daring look, which is increased by the
manner in which the hair is thrown up from the forehead and falls about the
neck. The form of the upper eyelids and the sweep of the eyebrows are such
as to give the eyes an almost sensual expression, which is increased by the
Mouth, in which the tongue is just visible between the teeth. That grand,
shaggy-haired head of the Capitol at Rome, long called Alexander, has so
remote a resemblance to these heads, that it is difficult to believe it to be even
an idealized portrait. Another and similarly formed head of the Uffizi, but
with an expression of pain, and called the Dying Alexander, is evidently but a
Fig. 218.
Portrait Head of Alexander the Great.
British Museum.