Ecole napolitaine du XVIIè d’après Charles Lebrun, La famille de Darius devant Alexan

Neapolitan school of the 17th century after Charles Lebrun, The family of Darius before Alexandre. Entourage of Luca Giordano (1634; 1705)

Canvas re-lined 92 cm by 63 cm
Frame 104 cm by 76 cm

This very beautiful painting represents the queens of Persia at the feet of Alexander the Great, shortly after his victory at Issus in 333. Accompanied by his faithful Héphestion, Alexandre visits the queen who carries her son Ochus in her arms. The Queen begs for clemency for her family. The original painting by Charles Lebrun, which can be admired at Versailles, was probably painted around 1661 at the start of the personal government of Louis XIV. It will also mark the beginning of the painter's career as painter to the king. Charles Le Brun lived in Fontainebleau, near the king, and Louis XIV "came to see him at unexpected times when he held the brush in his hand", as Claude Nivelon, disciple and first biographer of Charles Le Brun, points out. The scene is inspired by a sequence from Plutarch's Lives of Illustrious Men, a passage from Quinte Curce, but also contemporary plays centered on the Macedonian hero: Claude Boyer in 1648 (Porus or the Generosity of Alexander ), Morel in 1658 (Timoclée or the Generosity of Alexander, tragi-comedy), already insisted on the greatness of soul of the conqueror of Darius. Today, it is one of the most famous works of French painting, it opened from its realization, a new era of this Art in our country. Engraved by Gérard Edelinck the Elder (1640; 1707), it was widely and quickly distributed across Europe, allowing local artists to take up the subject in their own way. Thus, our painting is a work of the Naples school of the last quarter of the 17th century in the entourage of Luca Giordano (1634; 1705).