Classicism1661
The Queens of Persia at the Feet of Alexander
Charles Le Brun
Curator's Eye
"Pay close attention to the play of hands and the confusion of Sisygambis, the mother of Darius. Le Brun uses his theory of the expression of passions here for the first time, making every emotion readable."
The founding manifesto of French Classicism, celebrating self-control and sovereign clemency. A theatrical staging where Charles Le Brun defines the aesthetic of Louis XIV's reign.
Analysis
This painting illustrates a famous episode in the life of Alexander the Great told by Plutarch. After the Battle of Issus in 333 BC, Alexander enters the tent of the family of Darius III, the defeated Persian king. Sisygambis, the queen-mother, mistakes Alexander’s intimate friend Hephaestion for the king because he is taller. Instead of being offended, Alexander calms her confusion with the famous words: "He too is an Alexander."
The work was a direct commission from Louis XIV, intended to glorify royal magnanimity. By choosing this subject, Le Brun proposes an allegory of good government: the true king is not one who crushes, but one who forgives and masters his own instincts. Alexander’s face, calm and stoic, contrasts with the dramatic agitation of the Persian women, creating an opposition between European Reason and Oriental emotion.
The myth of Alexander served as a mirror for the young Louis XIV. Le Brun depicts the conqueror not as a barbarian warrior, but as a civilizing hero, a model of ancient virtue. Each character in Alexander’s retinue embodies a nuance of courtly morality: respect, admiration, and restraint. It is a lesson in politics put into images, where the monarchical order is imposed by the mere force of character.
The artist displays a remarkable archaeological care for the time, though filtered through 17th-century aesthetics. The armor, jewelry, and costumes of the Persian women are intended to evoke a lavish but defeated Orient. This decorative richness serves to emphasize the apparent modesty of Alexander, who wears no outward signs of tyranny, asserting his superiority through his natural presence alone.
Finally, this work marks the birth of the French school. It breaks with the exuberant Baroque to impose narrative clarity and formal rigor. Le Brun establishes a visual language that would dominate Europe for more than a century, making the Louvre and Versailles the nerve centers of world artistic thought.
The first secret of this work lies in its immediate political dimension: it was painted at Fontainebleau just as Louis XIV had taken personal power following the death of Mazarin. This is the painting that allowed Le Brun to become "First Painter to the King." The king followed the execution of the canvas with such attention that he identified himself with Alexander, making this painting the official birth certificate of Versailles royal iconography.
A fascinating technical secret concerns Le Brun's method for the faces. For Sisygambis and her daughters, he applied his research on physiognomy, comparing human traits to those of animals to emphasize the instinctive nature of their pain. In contrast, Alexander's profile is modeled on ancient medals to grant him sculptural immortality. It is a direct application of science in the service of directed emotion.
A hidden detail is found in the figure of Hephaestion. Le Brun deliberately made his armor shinier and his plume higher than Alexander's to make Sisygambis's mistake visually credible for the viewer. It is a narrative tour de force: the painter must deceive the viewer's eye so they understand why the Queen of Persia was mistaken, while maintaining Alexander's superior dignity.
The work also contains a coded message about clemency. At the time, Alexander's pardon of Darius's family was paralleled with the pardon Louis XIV was supposed to grant to certain nobles after the Fronde uprisings. The painting served as a tool of soft propaganda, suggesting to former rebels that total submission to the Sun King would lead to benevolent protection rather than execution.
Finally, X-rays of the painting revealed that Le Brun had initially planned a much more elaborate architectural setting in the background. He ultimately chose to simplify the space so that attention would focus solely on the dialogue of gazes and hands. This visual purification is what gives the scene its "classical" strength and universal character, transforming a historical fact into a timeless icon.
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What major theoretical innovation did Charles Le Brun apply here for the first time on such a scale, foreshadowing his future role at the Academy?
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