Description

The Family of Darius Before Alexander, an oil painting on canvas by the Italian Renaissance artist Paolo Veronese, created around 1565–1570. The original artwork is held in the collection of the National Gallery in London.
Overview
Artist: Paolo Veronese (Paolo Caliari)
Date: c. 1565–1570
Medium: Oil on canvas
Location: The National Gallery, London
Historical Context:
The scene depicts a historical event after Alexander the Great’s victory over the Persian King Darius III at the Battle of Issus in 333 BC. Alexander, accompanied by his close friend Hephaestion, visited Darius’s family, who had been taken prisoner.
The Scene:
The painting captures a moment of mistaken identity: Darius’s mother, Sisygambis, mistakenly kneels before Hephaestion (who appears taller and more splendidly dressed in an orange cloak) rather than Alexander himself (who is wearing a red tunic). When her error is realized, Alexander magnanimously reassures her by saying that Hephaestion is also an Alexander, a gesture of both modesty and respect.
The figures in the painting are depicted in lavish contemporary 16th-century Venetian fashion rather than ancient attire, and the architectural backdrop resembles a Renaissance theater set, a common artistic liberty of the time.