The Family of Darius Before Alexander
2022 © Maxim Tabachnik
Zephyrus Blowing on FloraMarine Scene with NereidsIllusionistic Architecture and StatuePutto with TridentGrotesque Ceiling with Flying FigureThe Family of Darius Before AlexanderThe Council of the Gods (detail)Triumph of Galatea (detail)Venus and JupiterPutto with ThunderboltsApollo and the Centaur

The Family of Darius Before AlexanderIl Sodoma

287
This fresco (1516–19) shows Alexander standing in armor before a tent as Darius III’s captured family gathers around him. The kneeling queen mother Sisygambis reaches toward Alexander, having mistaken him for his general Hephaestion at right. The controlled gestures and ordered ranks of figures articulate Renaissance ideals of mercy and virtus (classical moral excellence) in a victorious ruler.