Gallery | Alexander the Great

To accompany our July–August Book Club readings about Alexander the Great, here is a gallery of just a few of the many images, ancient and more modern, depicting Alexander.

Plutarch, in his ‘Life of Alexander,’ says:

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. Apelles, however, in painting him as wielder of the thunder-bolt, did not reproduce his complexion, but made it too dark and swarthy. Whereas he was of a fair colour, as they say, and his fairness passed into ruddiness on his breast particularly, and in his face.
Translated by Bernadotte Perrin[1]

Here are a couple of examples of Lysippos’ work, from later copies.

Another view of the same bust from the right:

There is also a Roman copy of a Greek original of a Lysippos in the Glyptothek in Munich.

The British Museum[2], in their description of the Portrait head found in Alexandria (shown below), says:

Alexander was always shown clean-shaven, which was an innovation: all previous portraits of Greek statesmen or rulers had beards. …. Earlier portraits of Alexander tend to appear more heroic and mature, while posthumous portraits, like this example, portray Alexander as a more youthful, god-like character. He has longer hair, a more dynamic twist of the head and an upward gaze; in fact, more like the description of Alexander in literary sources.

The following statue is full length but depicts his head in a similar attitude, and dates from the 3rd century BCE.

A later statue has similar characteristics but is fully clothed:

Robin Osborne[3] says:

Alexander seems to have been acutely aware of the importance of his image, in life as well as in portraits. His decision to retain the beardlessness of the age at which he assumed the Macedonian throne must have been consciously taken …. This image fits in with nothing in the pre-existing portrait tradition, and has to be understood rather in the context of the creation of personals for mythological figures … just as in life he confused myth and reality in his emulation of the god Dionysos and of heroes such as Herakles and Perseus, and in his own aspirations to divinity, so in his image he took over the features developed to represent myth.

There are some coins minted during Alexander’s lifetime which similarly depict Herakles wearing a lion’s skin helmet, but not Alexander himself[4]. Some coins minted by rulers in Egypt after Alexander’s death depict Alexander himself as a god or cult hero. Robin Osborne[5] mentions examples where he is shown with horns typical of the Egyptian god Ammon, or the scalp of an elephant.

Incidents from Alexander the Great’s life seem to have captured the imagination of the Romans and also of later artists and illustrators, in a variety of styles, not all of them historically accurate! I’ve included a few fun examples.

This Roman mosaic from Pompeii depicts Alexander with short dark hair, and sideburns, so this would perhaps not have met with his approval, if Plutarch is to be believed.

A more personal scene is depicted in the next artwork, also from Pompeii. Although it depicts a wedding, the “happy couple” do not appear particularly joyful!

These later examples are by illustrators or artists from the Renaissance onwards.

There are later legends associated with Alexander that do not feature in the history we are reading[6]. The one I most like is that he was taken aloft by two griffins to see the world! For some reason this incident is depicted in a number of churches. Here is just one example:

Alexander is commemorated in a more traditional style in modern statues, for example these in which he is shown fighting or on horseback.

How do you visualize Alexander the Great? Have any of you found other pictures of him which fit his own image of himself, or which contradict it? There are plenty of depictions to choose from, so please share them in the Forum!

Notes

1 Plutarch Alexander 4.1–2. Plutarch’s Lives with an English translation by Bernadotte Perrin. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1919. 7. Online at Perseus