inc. 21¼ x 26¼
Unknown Artist, IV Style (55-79 A.D.) Pompeii
The painting, reconstructed from many fragments, comes from the triclinium (20), whose decorations are thought to come from a workshop connected to the active workshop in the House of Vetti. The episode represented is to be identified with the marriage of Alexander the Great to Roxane, derived from an original of the early Hellenistic period, when the echoes of the feats of the Macedonian king were still very much alive. Alexander, depicted in the “Lysippean” pose of the sovereign with spear, is identified with Aries, while Roxane, the most beautiful of the Persian maidens, is depicted in the typical pose of Aphrodite, leaning on a narrow column. Between the two characters is a cupid with a bow, peeping round an enormous round shield, while just behind the Macedonian king is a warrior in oriental raiment, with a yellow ‘kausia’ on his head and short tunic worn over long clinging leggings.
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