PIETRO TESTA. Alexander the Great Rescued from the River Cydnus

PIETRO TESTA (1612-1650)

Alexander the Great Rescued from the River Cydnus

Alexander the Great Rescued from the River Cydnus. Artist: Pietro Testa (Italian, Lucca 1612-1650 Rome). Dimensions: 38 x 54 in. (96.5 x 137.2 cm). Date: ca. 1650. During his campaign against Darius, Alexander halted at Tarsus to bathe in the Cydnus: "But hardly had he entered it when his limbs began to stiffen with a sudden chill, then he lost his color, and the vital warmth left almost his entire body. His attendants . . . carried him almost unconscious to his tent" (Quintus Curtius Rufus, History of Alexander III, V:1-4). To the left is the aged river god. To the right smoke rises from the fire set in Tarsus by Darius's retreating troops. The picture was painted shortly before Testa drowned in the Tiber, apparently a suicide.

OIL ON CANVAS

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Album / Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY

Model: No - Property: No
Rights questions?

4192 x 3051 px | 36.6 MB

35.5 x 25.8 cm | 14.0 x 10.2 in (300 dpi)