Belgian school, ca. 1840

Belgian school, ca. 1840.
"Alexander at the Battle of Persepolis".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Measurements: 86 x 106 cm; 102 x 121 cm (frame).

This painting of the Belgian school, made around 1840, is a paradigmatic example of the pictorial historicism of the 19th century. It represents an episode charged with drama and symbolism: the triumphal entry of Alexander the Great into Persepolis, the capital of the Persian Empire, after his military victory. In the center of the composition stands the imposing figure of Alexander, mounted on a light horse, with his body erect and his right arm raised in a gesture of authority and destiny. His serene face and majestic bearing place him as an almost divine figure, as if the Macedonian conqueror were not only a man, but an instrument of history or of the will of the gods.
Around him are grouped various Persian figures, characterized by their oriental attire and high headdresses, representing the cultural diversity of the defeated empire. These figures adopt attitudes of extreme submission: some prostrate themselves on the ground with their foreheads touching the ground, others raise their hands in desperate supplication or converse among themselves with expressions of anguish and fear. The drama of the moment is reinforced by the theatrical arrangement of the bodies, which create a scene of emotional tension concentrated around Alexander. In the background, a column crowned by winged figures alludes to Persian architecture and places the scene in a monumental space, evoking the ruins of Persepolis as a symbol of a defeated but dignified civilization.
The treatment of light and color is typically academicist: the spotlight falls on Alexander, bathing him in golden tones that contrast with the deep shadows surrounding the supplicant figures. This technique not only enhances the protagonism of the conqueror, but also constructs a visual narrative where order is imposed over chaos, civilization over barbarism, the Western over the Oriental. The meticulousness of the drawing, the anatomical precision and the chromatic richness demonstrate the painter's technical mastery, in tune with the canons of 19th century history painting.