The Family of Darius Before Alexander

What it is

This oil painting was made around 1565–1570 by the Venetian artist Paolo Veronese. It shows Alexander the Great and his friend Hephaestion before the captured family of the Persian king Darius III, after Alexander's victory at the Battle of Issus in 333 BC. It has been in the collection of the National Gallery in London since 1857.

Why it matters

The painting illustrates a famous ancient story, told by writers such as Plutarch and Quintus Curtius Rufus, about Alexander's mercy and self-control toward his defeated enemies. Darius's mother Sisygambis mistakenly knelt before Hephaestion instead of Alexander, and Alexander generously said Hephaestion was 'Alexander too.' Veronese dressed the figures in 16th-century Venetian clothing, showing how Renaissance artists reimagined ancient history through their own world.

Look closer

• Can you tell which figure is meant to be Alexander, and which is Hephaestion? Why is this still debated by historians?
• Why did Veronese dress the ancient Persians and Greeks in Venetian Renaissance clothing?
• What does the painting leave out about the realities of ancient warfare and captivity?