3-039-685 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Alexander and the Niece of Artaxerxes III, about 1470-1475. Additional Info:In this miniature depicting Alexander's court life, a blue and gold tapestry hangs on the back wall and Alexander sits at a richly set table on a raised platform. Well-dressed courtiers and musicians around him attend to his needs. In a setting reminiscent of the rich interiors of the Burgundian court, Alexander the Great sits enthroned beneath a canopy at a banquet table. He calls before him one of the women he noticed among the Persian captives. As she kneels before him, he recognizes her as the niece of Artaxerxes III, an earlier king of Persia. Alexander orders an attendant to return her belongings, which he passes to her in a wooden casket. He also orders a search for her husband, who may be the figure in the long blue robe in the foreground.