The Queens of Persia at the Feet of Alexander Poster

This is a reproduction of “Les Rennes de Perse aux pieds d’Alexandre, The Queens of Persia at the Feet of Alexander” of 1662 by Charles le Brun. This is a masterpiece of the French Baroqoue which recalls Alexander’s capture of the harem of Darius, king of Persia, after the battle of Issus in 333. Here Alexander enters into the royal pavilion with his lover Hephaistion to receive the homage of Darius’ queens. The work was greatly admired by Louis XIV who then confirmed Le Brun as Official Painter to the King. The Paris-born Le Brun was placed in an artist’s studio at the age of eleven and within four years he was receiving commissions from Cardinal Richelieu. He went to Rome in the company of Poussin for whom he worked for four years. When he returned to Paris in 1646 he found many patrons and had a role in taking control of the Academy of Painting and Sculpture and the Academy of France in Rome. He was a power-player at court but, towards the end of his life, had a decline in fortunes after the fall of his patron Colbert. He died in his private mansion in Paris in 1690. This masterpiece is an oil on canvas measuring 117.3 by 178.3 inches and is in the Palace of Versailles.