The Battle of Alexander at Issus

Prompt: In The Battle of Alexander at Issus, how is the Subject matter discussed?

Alexander III of Macedon (356–323 BC), best known as Alexander the Great, was an Ancient King of Macedon who reigned from 336 BC until his death. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest military tacticians and strategists in history, and is presumed undefeated in battle. Renowned for his military leadership and charisma, he always led his armies personally and took to the front ranks of battle. By conquering the Persian Empire and unifying Greece, Egypt and Babylon, he forged the largest empire of the ancient world and effected the spread of Hellenism throughout Europe and Northern Africa.Alexander embarked on his expedition to conquer the Persian Empire in the spring of 334 BC, having pacified the warring Greek states and consolidated his military might. During the first months of the Macedonian passage into Persian Asia Minor, Darius III – king of Persia – largely ignored the presence of Alexander's 40,000 men. The Battle of the Granicus, fought in May, was Persia's first major effort to confront the invaders, but resulted in an easy victory for Alexander. Over the next year, Alexander took most of western and coastal Asia Minor by forcing the capitulation of the satrapies in his path. He continued inland, travelling northeast through Phrygia before turning southeast toward Cilicia. After passing the Cilician Gates in October, Alexander was delayed by fever in Tarsus. Darius, meanwhile, mustered an army of up to 100,000 (some ancient sources posit exaggerated figures of over 600,000) and personally directed it over the eastern slopes of the Amanus Mountains. In early November, as Alexander proceeded about the Gulf of Issus from Mallus via Issus, the two armies inadvertently passed one another on opposite sides of the mountains. This was decidedly to Darius' advantage: now at the rear of Alexander, he was able to prevent retreat and block the supply lines Alexander had established at Issus. It was not until Alexander had encamped at Myriandrus, a seaport on the southeastern shores of the Gulf of İskenderun, that he learned of the Persian position. He immediately retraced his route to the Pinarus River, just south of Issus, to find Darius' force assembled along the northern bank. The Battle of Issus ensued.Darius' initial response was defensive: he immediately stockaded the river bank with stakes to impede the enemy's crossing. A core vanguard of traitorous Greek mercenaries and Persian royal guard was established; as was usual for Persian kings, Darius positioned himself in the centre of this vanguard, in order that he might effectively dispatch commands to any part of his large army. A group of Persian light infantry was soon sent to the foothills, as it was suspected that Alexander would make an approach from the right, away from the coast. A mass of cavalry commanded by Nabarsanes occupied the Persian right.Alexander made a cautious and slow advance, intending to base his strategy on the structure of the Persian force. He led a flank of his Companion cavalry on the right, while the Thessalian cavalry were dispatched to the left, as a counter to Nabarsanes' mounted unit. Aware of the importance of the foothills to his right, Alexander sent a band of light infantry, archers, and cavalry to displace the defence Darius had stationed there. The enterprise was successful – those Persians not killed were forced to seek refuge higher in the mountains.When within missile range of the enemy, Alexander gave the order to charge. He spearheaded the assault of his heavily armed Companion cavalry, who quickly made deep cuts into the Persian left flank. The Macedonian left wing, commanded by Parmenion, was meanwhile driven back by Nabarsanes' large cavalry. The Macedonians' central phalanx crossed the river and clashed with the renegade Greek mercenaries who fronted Darius' vanguard. As the Companion cavalry pushed further into the Persian left, the danger arose that Darius would exploit the gap that had formed between Alexander and the rest of his army. When he was satisfied that the left wing was crippled and no longer a threat, Alexander remedied the situation by moving the Companions to assault the Persian centre in the flank. Unable to handle the added pressure, the Persian vanguard was forced to withdraw from the river bank, allowing the Macedonian phalanx to continue their advance and lifting the pressure on Parmenion's left wing.Upon realising that the onslaught of Alexander's Companion cavalry was unstoppable, Darius and his army fled. Many were killed in the rush, trampled by those who fled with them or collapsed with their horses. Some escaped to regions as remote as Egypt, and others reunited with Darius in the north. The onset of darkness ended the chase after approximately 20 km (12 mi); Alexander then recalled his army and set about burying the dead. Darius' family were left behind in the Persian camp; it is reported that Alexander treated them well and reassured them of Darius' safety. Darius' royal chariot was found discarded in a ditch, as were his bow and shield.Ancient sources present disparate casualty figures for the Battle of Issus. Plutarch and Diodorus Siculus approximate 100,000 Persian deaths, in contrast with the 450 Macedonian deaths reported by Quintus Curtius Rufus. In any case, it is probable that more Persians were killed as they fled than in battle; Ptolemy I, who served with Alexander during the battle, recounts how the Macedonians crossed a ravine on the bodies of their enemies during the pursuit.The Macedonian conquest of Persia continued until 330 BC, when Darius was killed and Alexander took his title as king. Alexander died in 323 BC, having recently returned from campaigning in the Indian subcontinent. The cause of death remains a subject of debate.

File:Battle of Issus - initial deployment.svg

alt=A painting showing an elaborate and fanciful palace set in a landscape of forest and mountains. The forecourt of the palace is bustling with people. Outside the palace, near a fountain sits Susannah attended by handmaids who wash her feet and comb her hair. Two old courtiers spy on her from the dense undergrowth.

Detail of the fictitious mountain in the painting's centre

Category:Collection of the Alte Pinakothek

Detail of Alexander the Great from the [[Alexander Mosaic

commons:File:Altdorfer, Albrecht - Donaulandschaft mit Schloß Wörth.jpg

alt=A panel from an altarpiece by Grünewald. On the right, the Virgin Mary gazes at the Christ Child while above her, in a sky blazing with light, God is seated on a throne surrounded by the Hosts of Heaven. To the left an orchestra of cherubim plays in a Gothic loggia.

The initial dispositions at the Battle of Issus. The Pinarus River separates the belligerents, and Issus is {{convert

alt=A military diagram. A river runs through the lower-left diagonal. On one side are the Persians, with the Orientals and Greek mercenaries, and on the other are the Macedonians, with Alexander and Parmenion. The gradient of the nearby mountains generally decreases from the top right, till the shores of the gulf in the bottom left.

alt=A large mosaic depicting an array of soldiers on horseback doing battle. Parts of it have been damaged or lost to time.

alt=Small figures of women on the battlefield, all with long red hair and all wearing feathered toques

''Susannah and the Elders'' (1526), the only other painting by Altdorfer in the [[Alte Pinakothek

Detail of soldiers from both armies. Reinhart Koselleck comments that the Persians resemble the 16th-century Turks "from their feet to their turbans."

Matthias Grünewald's ''The Virgin and Child with the Heavenly Host'' (c. 1515)

Alexander the Great#Death and succession

alt=A miniature painting showing four brightly clothed men carrying a large banner which is painted with a complex battle scene

alt=An island, and a cityscape featuring church towers

mi}} to the north. Cavalry is concentrated on the shores of the Gulf of İskenderun (or Gulf of Issus) on both sides. Alexander devotes himself to a right approach with his Companion cavalry, having unseated the Persian foothill defence.

alt=A steep mountain, upon which are built fortifications

alt= A painting of St George slaying the dragon set in a dense forest in which the figures are dwarfed by the trees. A distant landscape is seen through a break.

Detail of the oversized island of Cyprus and what is probably the city of Tarsus

A miniature from ''Triumphal Procession'' (1512–1516)

File:Horatius Cocles Stopping King Porsenna's Army outside Rome (Ludwig Refinger) - Nationalmuseum - 17244.tif

alt=A blazing sun above blue-tinged mountains and water

The Alexander Mosaic, as seen in the Naples National Archaeological Museum

Category:Paintings by Albrecht Altdorfer

List of landscapes by Albrecht Altdorfer


The Battle of Alexander at Issus

Prompt: In the context of The Battle of Alexander at Issus, explain the Previous work and the Background.

Albrecht Altdorfer is regarded as one of the founders of Western landscape art. He was a painter, etcher, architect, and engraver, and the leader of the Danube school of German art. As evidenced by such paintings as Saint George in the Forest (1510) and Allegory (1531), much of Altdorfer's work is characterised by an attachment to sprawling landscapes that dwarf the figures within them; The Battle of Alexander at Issus epitomises this facet of his style. With reference to Saint George in the Forest in particular, art historian Mark W. Roskill comments that "The accessory material of landscape [in Altdorfer's work] is played with and ornamentally elaborated so that it reverberates with the sense of a sequestered and inhospitable environment". Inspired by his travels around the Austrian Alps and the Danube River, Altdorfer painted a number of landscapes that contain no figures at all, including Landscape with a Footbridge (c. 1516) and Danube Landscape near Regensburg (c. 1522–25). These were the first "pure" landscapes since antiquity. Most of Altdorfer's landscapes were made with a vertical format, in contrast with the modern conception of the genre. The horizontal landscape was an innovation of Altdorfer's Flemish contemporary Joachim Patinir and his followers.Altdorfer also produced a great deal of religious artwork, in reflection of his devout Catholicism. His most frequent subjects were the Virgin Mary and the life and crucifixion of Christ. As in The Battle of Alexander at Issus, these paintings often feature settings of great majesty and use the sky to convey symbolic meaning. This meaning is not uniform throughout Altdorfer's corpus – for example, the visage of the setting sun connotes loss and tragedy in Agony in the Garden, but serves as "the emblem of power and glory" in The Battle of Alexander at Issus.Larry Silver of The Art Bulletin explains that The Battle of Alexander at Issus is both similar to and in direct contrast with Altdorfer's previous work: "Instead of the peaceful landscape of retreat for Christian events or holy figures, this panel offers just the opposite: a battleground for one of ancient history's principal epoch-making encounters ... Yet despite its global or cosmic dimensions, the Battle of Issus still looks like Altdorfer's earlier, contemplative liminal landscapes of retreat, complete with craggy peaks, bodies of water, and distant castles."Although the Battle of Alexander is atypical of Altdorfer in its size and in that it depicts war, his  Triumphal Procession – a 1512–16 illuminated manuscript commissioned by Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire – has been described as a conceptual antecedent. The Procession was produced in parallel with the Triumph of Maximilian, a series of 137 woodcuts collaboratively executed by Altdorfer, Hans Springinklee, Albrecht Dürer, Leonhard Beck and Hans Schäufelein.

File:Battle of Issus - initial deployment.svg

alt=A painting showing an elaborate and fanciful palace set in a landscape of forest and mountains. The forecourt of the palace is bustling with people. Outside the palace, near a fountain sits Susannah attended by handmaids who wash her feet and comb her hair. Two old courtiers spy on her from the dense undergrowth.

Detail of the fictitious mountain in the painting's centre

Category:Collection of the Alte Pinakothek

Detail of Alexander the Great from the [[Alexander Mosaic

commons:File:Altdorfer, Albrecht - Donaulandschaft mit Schloß Wörth.jpg

alt=A panel from an altarpiece by Grünewald. On the right, the Virgin Mary gazes at the Christ Child while above her, in a sky blazing with light, God is seated on a throne surrounded by the Hosts of Heaven. To the left an orchestra of cherubim plays in a Gothic loggia.

The initial dispositions at the Battle of Issus. The Pinarus River separates the belligerents, and Issus is {{convert

alt=A military diagram. A river runs through the lower-left diagonal. On one side are the Persians, with the Orientals and Greek mercenaries, and on the other are the Macedonians, with Alexander and Parmenion. The gradient of the nearby mountains generally decreases from the top right, till the shores of the gulf in the bottom left.

alt=A large mosaic depicting an array of soldiers on horseback doing battle. Parts of it have been damaged or lost to time.

alt=Small figures of women on the battlefield, all with long red hair and all wearing feathered toques

''Susannah and the Elders'' (1526), the only other painting by Altdorfer in the [[Alte Pinakothek

Detail of soldiers from both armies. Reinhart Koselleck comments that the Persians resemble the 16th-century Turks "from their feet to their turbans."

Matthias Grünewald's ''The Virgin and Child with the Heavenly Host'' (c. 1515)

Alexander the Great#Death and succession

alt=A miniature painting showing four brightly clothed men carrying a large banner which is painted with a complex battle scene

alt=An island, and a cityscape featuring church towers

mi}} to the north. Cavalry is concentrated on the shores of the Gulf of İskenderun (or Gulf of Issus) on both sides. Alexander devotes himself to a right approach with his Companion cavalry, having unseated the Persian foothill defence.

alt=A steep mountain, upon which are built fortifications

alt= A painting of St George slaying the dragon set in a dense forest in which the figures are dwarfed by the trees. A distant landscape is seen through a break.

Detail of the oversized island of Cyprus and what is probably the city of Tarsus

A miniature from ''Triumphal Procession'' (1512–1516)

File:Horatius Cocles Stopping King Porsenna's Army outside Rome (Ludwig Refinger) - Nationalmuseum - 17244.tif

alt=A blazing sun above blue-tinged mountains and water

The Alexander Mosaic, as seen in the Naples National Archaeological Museum

Category:Paintings by Albrecht Altdorfer

List of landscapes by Albrecht Altdorfer


The Battle of Alexander at Issus

Prompt: Explain the Previous work about the Background of this artwork, The Battle of Alexander at Issus.

Albrecht Altdorfer is regarded as one of the founders of Western landscape art. He was a painter, etcher, architect, and engraver, and the leader of the Danube school of German art. As evidenced by such paintings as Saint George in the Forest (1510) and Allegory (1531), much of Altdorfer's work is characterised by an attachment to sprawling landscapes that dwarf the figures within them; The Battle of Alexander at Issus epitomises this facet of his style. With reference to Saint George in the Forest in particular, art historian Mark W. Roskill comments that "The accessory material of landscape [in Altdorfer's work] is played with and ornamentally elaborated so that it reverberates with the sense of a sequestered and inhospitable environment". Inspired by his travels around the Austrian Alps and the Danube River, Altdorfer painted a number of landscapes that contain no figures at all, including Landscape with a Footbridge (c. 1516) and Danube Landscape near Regensburg (c. 1522–25). These were the first "pure" landscapes since antiquity. Most of Altdorfer's landscapes were made with a vertical format, in contrast with the modern conception of the genre. The horizontal landscape was an innovation of Altdorfer's Flemish contemporary Joachim Patinir and his followers.Altdorfer also produced a great deal of religious artwork, in reflection of his devout Catholicism. His most frequent subjects were the Virgin Mary and the life and crucifixion of Christ. As in The Battle of Alexander at Issus, these paintings often feature settings of great majesty and use the sky to convey symbolic meaning. This meaning is not uniform throughout Altdorfer's corpus – for example, the visage of the setting sun connotes loss and tragedy in Agony in the Garden, but serves as "the emblem of power and glory" in The Battle of Alexander at Issus.Larry Silver of The Art Bulletin explains that The Battle of Alexander at Issus is both similar to and in direct contrast with Altdorfer's previous work: "Instead of the peaceful landscape of retreat for Christian events or holy figures, this panel offers just the opposite: a battleground for one of ancient history's principal epoch-making encounters ... Yet despite its global or cosmic dimensions, the Battle of Issus still looks like Altdorfer's earlier, contemplative liminal landscapes of retreat, complete with craggy peaks, bodies of water, and distant castles."Although the Battle of Alexander is atypical of Altdorfer in its size and in that it depicts war, his  Triumphal Procession – a 1512–16 illuminated manuscript commissioned by Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire – has been described as a conceptual antecedent. The Procession was produced in parallel with the Triumph of Maximilian, a series of 137 woodcuts collaboratively executed by Altdorfer, Hans Springinklee, Albrecht Dürer, Leonhard Beck and Hans Schäufelein.

File:Battle of Issus - initial deployment.svg

alt=A painting showing an elaborate and fanciful palace set in a landscape of forest and mountains. The forecourt of the palace is bustling with people. Outside the palace, near a fountain sits Susannah attended by handmaids who wash her feet and comb her hair. Two old courtiers spy on her from the dense undergrowth.

Detail of the fictitious mountain in the painting's centre

Category:Collection of the Alte Pinakothek

Detail of Alexander the Great from the [[Alexander Mosaic

commons:File:Altdorfer, Albrecht - Donaulandschaft mit Schloß Wörth.jpg

alt=A panel from an altarpiece by Grünewald. On the right, the Virgin Mary gazes at the Christ Child while above her, in a sky blazing with light, God is seated on a throne surrounded by the Hosts of Heaven. To the left an orchestra of cherubim plays in a Gothic loggia.

The initial dispositions at the Battle of Issus. The Pinarus River separates the belligerents, and Issus is {{convert

alt=A military diagram. A river runs through the lower-left diagonal. On one side are the Persians, with the Orientals and Greek mercenaries, and on the other are the Macedonians, with Alexander and Parmenion. The gradient of the nearby mountains generally decreases from the top right, till the shores of the gulf in the bottom left.

alt=A large mosaic depicting an array of soldiers on horseback doing battle. Parts of it have been damaged or lost to time.

alt=Small figures of women on the battlefield, all with long red hair and all wearing feathered toques

''Susannah and the Elders'' (1526), the only other painting by Altdorfer in the [[Alte Pinakothek

Detail of soldiers from both armies. Reinhart Koselleck comments that the Persians resemble the 16th-century Turks "from their feet to their turbans."

Matthias Grünewald's ''The Virgin and Child with the Heavenly Host'' (c. 1515)

Alexander the Great#Death and succession

alt=A miniature painting showing four brightly clothed men carrying a large banner which is painted with a complex battle scene

alt=An island, and a cityscape featuring church towers

mi}} to the north. Cavalry is concentrated on the shores of the Gulf of İskenderun (or Gulf of Issus) on both sides. Alexander devotes himself to a right approach with his Companion cavalry, having unseated the Persian foothill defence.

alt=A steep mountain, upon which are built fortifications

alt= A painting of St George slaying the dragon set in a dense forest in which the figures are dwarfed by the trees. A distant landscape is seen through a break.

Detail of the oversized island of Cyprus and what is probably the city of Tarsus

A miniature from ''Triumphal Procession'' (1512–1516)

File:Horatius Cocles Stopping King Porsenna's Army outside Rome (Ludwig Refinger) - Nationalmuseum - 17244.tif

alt=A blazing sun above blue-tinged mountains and water

The Alexander Mosaic, as seen in the Naples National Archaeological Museum

Category:Paintings by Albrecht Altdorfer

List of landscapes by Albrecht Altdorfer


The Battle of Alexander at Issus

Prompt: In The Battle of Alexander at Issus, how is the Previous work of the Background explained?

Albrecht Altdorfer is regarded as one of the founders of Western landscape art. He was a painter, etcher, architect, and engraver, and the leader of the Danube school of German art. As evidenced by such paintings as Saint George in the Forest (1510) and Allegory (1531), much of Altdorfer's work is characterised by an attachment to sprawling landscapes that dwarf the figures within them; The Battle of Alexander at Issus epitomises this facet of his style. With reference to Saint George in the Forest in particular, art historian Mark W. Roskill comments that "The accessory material of landscape [in Altdorfer's work] is played with and ornamentally elaborated so that it reverberates with the sense of a sequestered and inhospitable environment". Inspired by his travels around the Austrian Alps and the Danube River, Altdorfer painted a number of landscapes that contain no figures at all, including Landscape with a Footbridge (c. 1516) and Danube Landscape near Regensburg (c. 1522–25). These were the first "pure" landscapes since antiquity. Most of Altdorfer's landscapes were made with a vertical format, in contrast with the modern conception of the genre. The horizontal landscape was an innovation of Altdorfer's Flemish contemporary Joachim Patinir and his followers.Altdorfer also produced a great deal of religious artwork, in reflection of his devout Catholicism. His most frequent subjects were the Virgin Mary and the life and crucifixion of Christ. As in The Battle of Alexander at Issus, these paintings often feature settings of great majesty and use the sky to convey symbolic meaning. This meaning is not uniform throughout Altdorfer's corpus – for example, the visage of the setting sun connotes loss and tragedy in Agony in the Garden, but serves as "the emblem of power and glory" in The Battle of Alexander at Issus.Larry Silver of The Art Bulletin explains that The Battle of Alexander at Issus is both similar to and in direct contrast with Altdorfer's previous work: "Instead of the peaceful landscape of retreat for Christian events or holy figures, this panel offers just the opposite: a battleground for one of ancient history's principal epoch-making encounters ... Yet despite its global or cosmic dimensions, the Battle of Issus still looks like Altdorfer's earlier, contemplative liminal landscapes of retreat, complete with craggy peaks, bodies of water, and distant castles."Although the Battle of Alexander is atypical of Altdorfer in its size and in that it depicts war, his  Triumphal Procession – a 1512–16 illuminated manuscript commissioned by Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire – has been described as a conceptual antecedent. The Procession was produced in parallel with the Triumph of Maximilian, a series of 137 woodcuts collaboratively executed by Altdorfer, Hans Springinklee, Albrecht Dürer, Leonhard Beck and Hans Schäufelein.

File:Battle of Issus - initial deployment.svg

alt=A painting showing an elaborate and fanciful palace set in a landscape of forest and mountains. The forecourt of the palace is bustling with people. Outside the palace, near a fountain sits Susannah attended by handmaids who wash her feet and comb her hair. Two old courtiers spy on her from the dense undergrowth.

Detail of the fictitious mountain in the painting's centre

Category:Collection of the Alte Pinakothek

Detail of Alexander the Great from the [[Alexander Mosaic

commons:File:Altdorfer, Albrecht - Donaulandschaft mit Schloß Wörth.jpg

alt=A panel from an altarpiece by Grünewald. On the right, the Virgin Mary gazes at the Christ Child while above her, in a sky blazing with light, God is seated on a throne surrounded by the Hosts of Heaven. To the left an orchestra of cherubim plays in a Gothic loggia.

The initial dispositions at the Battle of Issus. The Pinarus River separates the belligerents, and Issus is {{convert

alt=A military diagram. A river runs through the lower-left diagonal. On one side are the Persians, with the Orientals and Greek mercenaries, and on the other are the Macedonians, with Alexander and Parmenion. The gradient of the nearby mountains generally decreases from the top right, till the shores of the gulf in the bottom left.

alt=A large mosaic depicting an array of soldiers on horseback doing battle. Parts of it have been damaged or lost to time.

alt=Small figures of women on the battlefield, all with long red hair and all wearing feathered toques

''Susannah and the Elders'' (1526), the only other painting by Altdorfer in the [[Alte Pinakothek

Detail of soldiers from both armies. Reinhart Koselleck comments that the Persians resemble the 16th-century Turks "from their feet to their turbans."

Matthias Grünewald's ''The Virgin and Child with the Heavenly Host'' (c. 1515)

Alexander the Great#Death and succession

alt=A miniature painting showing four brightly clothed men carrying a large banner which is painted with a complex battle scene

alt=An island, and a cityscape featuring church towers

mi}} to the north. Cavalry is concentrated on the shores of the Gulf of İskenderun (or Gulf of Issus) on both sides. Alexander devotes himself to a right approach with his Companion cavalry, having unseated the Persian foothill defence.

alt=A steep mountain, upon which are built fortifications

alt= A painting of St George slaying the dragon set in a dense forest in which the figures are dwarfed by the trees. A distant landscape is seen through a break.

Detail of the oversized island of Cyprus and what is probably the city of Tarsus

A miniature from ''Triumphal Procession'' (1512–1516)

File:Horatius Cocles Stopping King Porsenna's Army outside Rome (Ludwig Refinger) - Nationalmuseum - 17244.tif

alt=A blazing sun above blue-tinged mountains and water

The Alexander Mosaic, as seen in the Naples National Archaeological Museum

Category:Paintings by Albrecht Altdorfer

List of landscapes by Albrecht Altdorfer


The Battle of Alexander at Issus

Prompt: Describe the characteristics of the Previous work in The Battle of Alexander at Issus's Background.

Albrecht Altdorfer is regarded as one of the founders of Western landscape art. He was a painter, etcher, architect, and engraver, and the leader of the Danube school of German art. As evidenced by such paintings as Saint George in the Forest (1510) and Allegory (1531), much of Altdorfer's work is characterised by an attachment to sprawling landscapes that dwarf the figures within them; The Battle of Alexander at Issus epitomises this facet of his style. With reference to Saint George in the Forest in particular, art historian Mark W. Roskill comments that "The accessory material of landscape [in Altdorfer's work] is played with and ornamentally elaborated so that it reverberates with the sense of a sequestered and inhospitable environment". Inspired by his travels around the Austrian Alps and the Danube River, Altdorfer painted a number of landscapes that contain no figures at all, including Landscape with a Footbridge (c. 1516) and Danube Landscape near Regensburg (c. 1522–25). These were the first "pure" landscapes since antiquity. Most of Altdorfer's landscapes were made with a vertical format, in contrast with the modern conception of the genre. The horizontal landscape was an innovation of Altdorfer's Flemish contemporary Joachim Patinir and his followers.Altdorfer also produced a great deal of religious artwork, in reflection of his devout Catholicism. His most frequent subjects were the Virgin Mary and the life and crucifixion of Christ. As in The Battle of Alexander at Issus, these paintings often feature settings of great majesty and use the sky to convey symbolic meaning. This meaning is not uniform throughout Altdorfer's corpus – for example, the visage of the setting sun connotes loss and tragedy in Agony in the Garden, but serves as "the emblem of power and glory" in The Battle of Alexander at Issus.Larry Silver of The Art Bulletin explains that The Battle of Alexander at Issus is both similar to and in direct contrast with Altdorfer's previous work: "Instead of the peaceful landscape of retreat for Christian events or holy figures, this panel offers just the opposite: a battleground for one of ancient history's principal epoch-making encounters ... Yet despite its global or cosmic dimensions, the Battle of Issus still looks like Altdorfer's earlier, contemplative liminal landscapes of retreat, complete with craggy peaks, bodies of water, and distant castles."Although the Battle of Alexander is atypical of Altdorfer in its size and in that it depicts war, his  Triumphal Procession – a 1512–16 illuminated manuscript commissioned by Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire – has been described as a conceptual antecedent. The Procession was produced in parallel with the Triumph of Maximilian, a series of 137 woodcuts collaboratively executed by Altdorfer, Hans Springinklee, Albrecht Dürer, Leonhard Beck and Hans Schäufelein.

File:Battle of Issus - initial deployment.svg

alt=A painting showing an elaborate and fanciful palace set in a landscape of forest and mountains. The forecourt of the palace is bustling with people. Outside the palace, near a fountain sits Susannah attended by handmaids who wash her feet and comb her hair. Two old courtiers spy on her from the dense undergrowth.

Detail of the fictitious mountain in the painting's centre

Category:Collection of the Alte Pinakothek

Detail of Alexander the Great from the [[Alexander Mosaic

commons:File:Altdorfer, Albrecht - Donaulandschaft mit Schloß Wörth.jpg

alt=A panel from an altarpiece by Grünewald. On the right, the Virgin Mary gazes at the Christ Child while above her, in a sky blazing with light, God is seated on a throne surrounded by the Hosts of Heaven. To the left an orchestra of cherubim plays in a Gothic loggia.

The initial dispositions at the Battle of Issus. The Pinarus River separates the belligerents, and Issus is {{convert

alt=A military diagram. A river runs through the lower-left diagonal. On one side are the Persians, with the Orientals and Greek mercenaries, and on the other are the Macedonians, with Alexander and Parmenion. The gradient of the nearby mountains generally decreases from the top right, till the shores of the gulf in the bottom left.

alt=A large mosaic depicting an array of soldiers on horseback doing battle. Parts of it have been damaged or lost to time.

alt=Small figures of women on the battlefield, all with long red hair and all wearing feathered toques

''Susannah and the Elders'' (1526), the only other painting by Altdorfer in the [[Alte Pinakothek

Detail of soldiers from both armies. Reinhart Koselleck comments that the Persians resemble the 16th-century Turks "from their feet to their turbans."

Matthias Grünewald's ''The Virgin and Child with the Heavenly Host'' (c. 1515)

Alexander the Great#Death and succession

alt=A miniature painting showing four brightly clothed men carrying a large banner which is painted with a complex battle scene

alt=An island, and a cityscape featuring church towers

mi}} to the north. Cavalry is concentrated on the shores of the Gulf of İskenderun (or Gulf of Issus) on both sides. Alexander devotes himself to a right approach with his Companion cavalry, having unseated the Persian foothill defence.

alt=A steep mountain, upon which are built fortifications

alt= A painting of St George slaying the dragon set in a dense forest in which the figures are dwarfed by the trees. A distant landscape is seen through a break.

Detail of the oversized island of Cyprus and what is probably the city of Tarsus

A miniature from ''Triumphal Procession'' (1512–1516)

File:Horatius Cocles Stopping King Porsenna's Army outside Rome (Ludwig Refinger) - Nationalmuseum - 17244.tif

alt=A blazing sun above blue-tinged mountains and water

The Alexander Mosaic, as seen in the Naples National Archaeological Museum

Category:Paintings by Albrecht Altdorfer

List of landscapes by Albrecht Altdorfer


The Battle of Alexander at Issus

Prompt: In the context of The Battle of Alexander at Issus, explain the Influences and commission and the Background.

Altdorfer's most significant contemporary influence was Matthias Grünewald (c. 1470–1528). Art historian Horst W. Janson remarked that their paintings "show the same 'unruly' imagination". Elements of The Battle of Alexander at Issus – particularly the sky – have been compared to Grünewald's Heavenly Host above the Virgin and Child, which forms part of his masterpiece, the Isenheim Altarpiece. Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553), also associated with the Danube school, was another important influence for Altdorfer. According to Roskill, works by Cranach from about 1500 "give a prominent role to landscape settings, using them as mood-enhancing backgrounds for portraits, and for images of hermits and visionary saints", and seem to play a "preparatory role" for the onset of pure landscape. Altdorfer owed much of his style, particularly in his religious artwork, to Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528); Larry Silver writes that Altdorfer's "use of convincing German landscapes in combination with celestial phenomena for his religious narrative" is "firmly tied" to a tradition "modeled by Albrecht Dürer."William IV, Duke of Bavaria commissioned The Battle of Alexander at Issus in 1528. Altdorfer was approximately 50 at the time, and was living in the Free Imperial City of Regensburg. As a result of over a decade of involvement with the Regensburg city council, Altdorfer was offered the position of Burgomaster on 18 September 1528. He declined; the council annals reported his reasoning as such: "He much desires to execute a special work in Bavaria for my Serene Highness and gracious Lord, Duke [William]." William probably wanted the painting for his newly built summer Lusthaus ("pleasure house") in the grounds of his palace in Munich, approximately 60 miles (97 km) south of Regensburg. There, it was to hang alongside seven other paintings with a similar format and subject matter, including Ludwig Refinger's The Martyrdom of Marcus Curtius, Melchior Feselen's The Siege of Alesia by Caesar, and the painting of Battle of Cannae by Hans Burgkmair (1473–1531). Another eight, each portraying a famous woman from history, were later added to the set, probably at the behest of the Duke's wife, Jacobaea of Baden. Altdorfer's Susanna and the Elders (1526) was among these.

File:Battle of Issus - initial deployment.svg

alt=A painting showing an elaborate and fanciful palace set in a landscape of forest and mountains. The forecourt of the palace is bustling with people. Outside the palace, near a fountain sits Susannah attended by handmaids who wash her feet and comb her hair. Two old courtiers spy on her from the dense undergrowth.

Detail of the fictitious mountain in the painting's centre

Category:Collection of the Alte Pinakothek

Detail of Alexander the Great from the [[Alexander Mosaic

commons:File:Altdorfer, Albrecht - Donaulandschaft mit Schloß Wörth.jpg

alt=A panel from an altarpiece by Grünewald. On the right, the Virgin Mary gazes at the Christ Child while above her, in a sky blazing with light, God is seated on a throne surrounded by the Hosts of Heaven. To the left an orchestra of cherubim plays in a Gothic loggia.

The initial dispositions at the Battle of Issus. The Pinarus River separates the belligerents, and Issus is {{convert

alt=A military diagram. A river runs through the lower-left diagonal. On one side are the Persians, with the Orientals and Greek mercenaries, and on the other are the Macedonians, with Alexander and Parmenion. The gradient of the nearby mountains generally decreases from the top right, till the shores of the gulf in the bottom left.

alt=A large mosaic depicting an array of soldiers on horseback doing battle. Parts of it have been damaged or lost to time.

alt=Small figures of women on the battlefield, all with long red hair and all wearing feathered toques

''Susannah and the Elders'' (1526), the only other painting by Altdorfer in the [[Alte Pinakothek

Detail of soldiers from both armies. Reinhart Koselleck comments that the Persians resemble the 16th-century Turks "from their feet to their turbans."

Matthias Grünewald's ''The Virgin and Child with the Heavenly Host'' (c. 1515)

Alexander the Great#Death and succession

alt=A miniature painting showing four brightly clothed men carrying a large banner which is painted with a complex battle scene

alt=An island, and a cityscape featuring church towers

mi}} to the north. Cavalry is concentrated on the shores of the Gulf of İskenderun (or Gulf of Issus) on both sides. Alexander devotes himself to a right approach with his Companion cavalry, having unseated the Persian foothill defence.

alt=A steep mountain, upon which are built fortifications

alt= A painting of St George slaying the dragon set in a dense forest in which the figures are dwarfed by the trees. A distant landscape is seen through a break.

Detail of the oversized island of Cyprus and what is probably the city of Tarsus

A miniature from ''Triumphal Procession'' (1512–1516)

File:Horatius Cocles Stopping King Porsenna's Army outside Rome (Ludwig Refinger) - Nationalmuseum - 17244.tif

alt=A blazing sun above blue-tinged mountains and water

The Alexander Mosaic, as seen in the Naples National Archaeological Museum

Category:Paintings by Albrecht Altdorfer

List of landscapes by Albrecht Altdorfer


The Battle of Alexander at Issus

Prompt: Explain the Influences and commission about the Background of this artwork, The Battle of Alexander at Issus.

Altdorfer's most significant contemporary influence was Matthias Grünewald (c. 1470–1528). Art historian Horst W. Janson remarked that their paintings "show the same 'unruly' imagination". Elements of The Battle of Alexander at Issus – particularly the sky – have been compared to Grünewald's Heavenly Host above the Virgin and Child, which forms part of his masterpiece, the Isenheim Altarpiece. Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553), also associated with the Danube school, was another important influence for Altdorfer. According to Roskill, works by Cranach from about 1500 "give a prominent role to landscape settings, using them as mood-enhancing backgrounds for portraits, and for images of hermits and visionary saints", and seem to play a "preparatory role" for the onset of pure landscape. Altdorfer owed much of his style, particularly in his religious artwork, to Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528); Larry Silver writes that Altdorfer's "use of convincing German landscapes in combination with celestial phenomena for his religious narrative" is "firmly tied" to a tradition "modeled by Albrecht Dürer."William IV, Duke of Bavaria commissioned The Battle of Alexander at Issus in 1528. Altdorfer was approximately 50 at the time, and was living in the Free Imperial City of Regensburg. As a result of over a decade of involvement with the Regensburg city council, Altdorfer was offered the position of Burgomaster on 18 September 1528. He declined; the council annals reported his reasoning as such: "He much desires to execute a special work in Bavaria for my Serene Highness and gracious Lord, Duke [William]." William probably wanted the painting for his newly built summer Lusthaus ("pleasure house") in the grounds of his palace in Munich, approximately 60 miles (97 km) south of Regensburg. There, it was to hang alongside seven other paintings with a similar format and subject matter, including Ludwig Refinger's The Martyrdom of Marcus Curtius, Melchior Feselen's The Siege of Alesia by Caesar, and the painting of Battle of Cannae by Hans Burgkmair (1473–1531). Another eight, each portraying a famous woman from history, were later added to the set, probably at the behest of the Duke's wife, Jacobaea of Baden. Altdorfer's Susanna and the Elders (1526) was among these.

File:Battle of Issus - initial deployment.svg

alt=A painting showing an elaborate and fanciful palace set in a landscape of forest and mountains. The forecourt of the palace is bustling with people. Outside the palace, near a fountain sits Susannah attended by handmaids who wash her feet and comb her hair. Two old courtiers spy on her from the dense undergrowth.

Detail of the fictitious mountain in the painting's centre

Category:Collection of the Alte Pinakothek

Detail of Alexander the Great from the [[Alexander Mosaic

commons:File:Altdorfer, Albrecht - Donaulandschaft mit Schloß Wörth.jpg

alt=A panel from an altarpiece by Grünewald. On the right, the Virgin Mary gazes at the Christ Child while above her, in a sky blazing with light, God is seated on a throne surrounded by the Hosts of Heaven. To the left an orchestra of cherubim plays in a Gothic loggia.

The initial dispositions at the Battle of Issus. The Pinarus River separates the belligerents, and Issus is {{convert

alt=A military diagram. A river runs through the lower-left diagonal. On one side are the Persians, with the Orientals and Greek mercenaries, and on the other are the Macedonians, with Alexander and Parmenion. The gradient of the nearby mountains generally decreases from the top right, till the shores of the gulf in the bottom left.

alt=A large mosaic depicting an array of soldiers on horseback doing battle. Parts of it have been damaged or lost to time.

alt=Small figures of women on the battlefield, all with long red hair and all wearing feathered toques

''Susannah and the Elders'' (1526), the only other painting by Altdorfer in the [[Alte Pinakothek

Detail of soldiers from both armies. Reinhart Koselleck comments that the Persians resemble the 16th-century Turks "from their feet to their turbans."

Matthias Grünewald's ''The Virgin and Child with the Heavenly Host'' (c. 1515)

Alexander the Great#Death and succession

alt=A miniature painting showing four brightly clothed men carrying a large banner which is painted with a complex battle scene

alt=An island, and a cityscape featuring church towers

mi}} to the north. Cavalry is concentrated on the shores of the Gulf of İskenderun (or Gulf of Issus) on both sides. Alexander devotes himself to a right approach with his Companion cavalry, having unseated the Persian foothill defence.

alt=A steep mountain, upon which are built fortifications

alt= A painting of St George slaying the dragon set in a dense forest in which the figures are dwarfed by the trees. A distant landscape is seen through a break.

Detail of the oversized island of Cyprus and what is probably the city of Tarsus

A miniature from ''Triumphal Procession'' (1512–1516)

File:Horatius Cocles Stopping King Porsenna's Army outside Rome (Ludwig Refinger) - Nationalmuseum - 17244.tif

alt=A blazing sun above blue-tinged mountains and water

The Alexander Mosaic, as seen in the Naples National Archaeological Museum

Category:Paintings by Albrecht Altdorfer

List of landscapes by Albrecht Altdorfer


The Battle of Alexander at Issus

Prompt: In The Battle of Alexander at Issus, how is the Influences and commission of the Background explained?

Altdorfer's most significant contemporary influence was Matthias Grünewald (c. 1470–1528). Art historian Horst W. Janson remarked that their paintings "show the same 'unruly' imagination". Elements of The Battle of Alexander at Issus – particularly the sky – have been compared to Grünewald's Heavenly Host above the Virgin and Child, which forms part of his masterpiece, the Isenheim Altarpiece. Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553), also associated with the Danube school, was another important influence for Altdorfer. According to Roskill, works by Cranach from about 1500 "give a prominent role to landscape settings, using them as mood-enhancing backgrounds for portraits, and for images of hermits and visionary saints", and seem to play a "preparatory role" for the onset of pure landscape. Altdorfer owed much of his style, particularly in his religious artwork, to Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528); Larry Silver writes that Altdorfer's "use of convincing German landscapes in combination with celestial phenomena for his religious narrative" is "firmly tied" to a tradition "modeled by Albrecht Dürer."William IV, Duke of Bavaria commissioned The Battle of Alexander at Issus in 1528. Altdorfer was approximately 50 at the time, and was living in the Free Imperial City of Regensburg. As a result of over a decade of involvement with the Regensburg city council, Altdorfer was offered the position of Burgomaster on 18 September 1528. He declined; the council annals reported his reasoning as such: "He much desires to execute a special work in Bavaria for my Serene Highness and gracious Lord, Duke [William]." William probably wanted the painting for his newly built summer Lusthaus ("pleasure house") in the grounds of his palace in Munich, approximately 60 miles (97 km) south of Regensburg. There, it was to hang alongside seven other paintings with a similar format and subject matter, including Ludwig Refinger's The Martyrdom of Marcus Curtius, Melchior Feselen's The Siege of Alesia by Caesar, and the painting of Battle of Cannae by Hans Burgkmair (1473–1531). Another eight, each portraying a famous woman from history, were later added to the set, probably at the behest of the Duke's wife, Jacobaea of Baden. Altdorfer's Susanna and the Elders (1526) was among these.

File:Battle of Issus - initial deployment.svg

alt=A painting showing an elaborate and fanciful palace set in a landscape of forest and mountains. The forecourt of the palace is bustling with people. Outside the palace, near a fountain sits Susannah attended by handmaids who wash her feet and comb her hair. Two old courtiers spy on her from the dense undergrowth.

Detail of the fictitious mountain in the painting's centre

Category:Collection of the Alte Pinakothek

Detail of Alexander the Great from the [[Alexander Mosaic

commons:File:Altdorfer, Albrecht - Donaulandschaft mit Schloß Wörth.jpg

alt=A panel from an altarpiece by Grünewald. On the right, the Virgin Mary gazes at the Christ Child while above her, in a sky blazing with light, God is seated on a throne surrounded by the Hosts of Heaven. To the left an orchestra of cherubim plays in a Gothic loggia.

The initial dispositions at the Battle of Issus. The Pinarus River separates the belligerents, and Issus is {{convert

alt=A military diagram. A river runs through the lower-left diagonal. On one side are the Persians, with the Orientals and Greek mercenaries, and on the other are the Macedonians, with Alexander and Parmenion. The gradient of the nearby mountains generally decreases from the top right, till the shores of the gulf in the bottom left.

alt=A large mosaic depicting an array of soldiers on horseback doing battle. Parts of it have been damaged or lost to time.

alt=Small figures of women on the battlefield, all with long red hair and all wearing feathered toques

''Susannah and the Elders'' (1526), the only other painting by Altdorfer in the [[Alte Pinakothek

Detail of soldiers from both armies. Reinhart Koselleck comments that the Persians resemble the 16th-century Turks "from their feet to their turbans."

Matthias Grünewald's ''The Virgin and Child with the Heavenly Host'' (c. 1515)

Alexander the Great#Death and succession

alt=A miniature painting showing four brightly clothed men carrying a large banner which is painted with a complex battle scene

alt=An island, and a cityscape featuring church towers

mi}} to the north. Cavalry is concentrated on the shores of the Gulf of İskenderun (or Gulf of Issus) on both sides. Alexander devotes himself to a right approach with his Companion cavalry, having unseated the Persian foothill defence.

alt=A steep mountain, upon which are built fortifications

alt= A painting of St George slaying the dragon set in a dense forest in which the figures are dwarfed by the trees. A distant landscape is seen through a break.

Detail of the oversized island of Cyprus and what is probably the city of Tarsus

A miniature from ''Triumphal Procession'' (1512–1516)

File:Horatius Cocles Stopping King Porsenna's Army outside Rome (Ludwig Refinger) - Nationalmuseum - 17244.tif

alt=A blazing sun above blue-tinged mountains and water

The Alexander Mosaic, as seen in the Naples National Archaeological Museum

Category:Paintings by Albrecht Altdorfer

List of landscapes by Albrecht Altdorfer


The Battle of Alexander at Issus

Prompt: Describe the characteristics of the Influences and commission in The Battle of Alexander at Issus's Background.

Altdorfer's most significant contemporary influence was Matthias Grünewald (c. 1470–1528). Art historian Horst W. Janson remarked that their paintings "show the same 'unruly' imagination". Elements of The Battle of Alexander at Issus – particularly the sky – have been compared to Grünewald's Heavenly Host above the Virgin and Child, which forms part of his masterpiece, the Isenheim Altarpiece. Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553), also associated with the Danube school, was another important influence for Altdorfer. According to Roskill, works by Cranach from about 1500 "give a prominent role to landscape settings, using them as mood-enhancing backgrounds for portraits, and for images of hermits and visionary saints", and seem to play a "preparatory role" for the onset of pure landscape. Altdorfer owed much of his style, particularly in his religious artwork, to Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528); Larry Silver writes that Altdorfer's "use of convincing German landscapes in combination with celestial phenomena for his religious narrative" is "firmly tied" to a tradition "modeled by Albrecht Dürer."William IV, Duke of Bavaria commissioned The Battle of Alexander at Issus in 1528. Altdorfer was approximately 50 at the time, and was living in the Free Imperial City of Regensburg. As a result of over a decade of involvement with the Regensburg city council, Altdorfer was offered the position of Burgomaster on 18 September 1528. He declined; the council annals reported his reasoning as such: "He much desires to execute a special work in Bavaria for my Serene Highness and gracious Lord, Duke [William]." William probably wanted the painting for his newly built summer Lusthaus ("pleasure house") in the grounds of his palace in Munich, approximately 60 miles (97 km) south of Regensburg. There, it was to hang alongside seven other paintings with a similar format and subject matter, including Ludwig Refinger's The Martyrdom of Marcus Curtius, Melchior Feselen's The Siege of Alesia by Caesar, and the painting of Battle of Cannae by Hans Burgkmair (1473–1531). Another eight, each portraying a famous woman from history, were later added to the set, probably at the behest of the Duke's wife, Jacobaea of Baden. Altdorfer's Susanna and the Elders (1526) was among these.

File:Battle of Issus - initial deployment.svg

alt=A painting showing an elaborate and fanciful palace set in a landscape of forest and mountains. The forecourt of the palace is bustling with people. Outside the palace, near a fountain sits Susannah attended by handmaids who wash her feet and comb her hair. Two old courtiers spy on her from the dense undergrowth.

Detail of the fictitious mountain in the painting's centre

Category:Collection of the Alte Pinakothek

Detail of Alexander the Great from the [[Alexander Mosaic

commons:File:Altdorfer, Albrecht - Donaulandschaft mit Schloß Wörth.jpg

alt=A panel from an altarpiece by Grünewald. On the right, the Virgin Mary gazes at the Christ Child while above her, in a sky blazing with light, God is seated on a throne surrounded by the Hosts of Heaven. To the left an orchestra of cherubim plays in a Gothic loggia.

The initial dispositions at the Battle of Issus. The Pinarus River separates the belligerents, and Issus is {{convert

alt=A military diagram. A river runs through the lower-left diagonal. On one side are the Persians, with the Orientals and Greek mercenaries, and on the other are the Macedonians, with Alexander and Parmenion. The gradient of the nearby mountains generally decreases from the top right, till the shores of the gulf in the bottom left.

alt=A large mosaic depicting an array of soldiers on horseback doing battle. Parts of it have been damaged or lost to time.

alt=Small figures of women on the battlefield, all with long red hair and all wearing feathered toques

''Susannah and the Elders'' (1526), the only other painting by Altdorfer in the [[Alte Pinakothek

Detail of soldiers from both armies. Reinhart Koselleck comments that the Persians resemble the 16th-century Turks "from their feet to their turbans."

Matthias Grünewald's ''The Virgin and Child with the Heavenly Host'' (c. 1515)

Alexander the Great#Death and succession

alt=A miniature painting showing four brightly clothed men carrying a large banner which is painted with a complex battle scene

alt=An island, and a cityscape featuring church towers

mi}} to the north. Cavalry is concentrated on the shores of the Gulf of İskenderun (or Gulf of Issus) on both sides. Alexander devotes himself to a right approach with his Companion cavalry, having unseated the Persian foothill defence.

alt=A steep mountain, upon which are built fortifications

alt= A painting of St George slaying the dragon set in a dense forest in which the figures are dwarfed by the trees. A distant landscape is seen through a break.

Detail of the oversized island of Cyprus and what is probably the city of Tarsus

A miniature from ''Triumphal Procession'' (1512–1516)

File:Horatius Cocles Stopping King Porsenna's Army outside Rome (Ludwig Refinger) - Nationalmuseum - 17244.tif

alt=A blazing sun above blue-tinged mountains and water

The Alexander Mosaic, as seen in the Naples National Archaeological Museum

Category:Paintings by Albrecht Altdorfer

List of landscapes by Albrecht Altdorfer


The Battle of Alexander at Issus

Prompt: In the context of The Battle of Alexander at Issus, explain the Earlier depictions and the Background.

Earlier depictions of the Battle of Issus are few. Battle of Issus, a fresco by Philoxenus of Eretria, is probably the first such. It was painted sometime around 310 BC for Cassander (c. 350–297 BC), who was one of Alexander the Great's successors. Alexander and Darius – each within a lance's length of the other – are pictured among a wild fray of mounted and downed soldiers. While Alexander maintains an aura of unshaken confidence, fear is etched in Darius' face, and his charioteer has already turned to rein his horses and escape. Roman author and natural philosopher Pliny the Elder claimed that Philoxenus' portrayal of the battle was "inferior to none". Some modern critics posit that Battle of Issus might not have been the work of Philoxenus, but of Helena of Egypt. One of the few named women painters who might have worked in Ancient Greece, she was reputed to have produced a painting of the battle of Issus which hung in the Temple of Peace during the time of Vespasian.The Alexander Mosaic, a floor mosaic dating from c. 100 BC, is believed to be a "reasonably faithful" copy of Battle of Issus, though an alternative view holds it might instead be a copy of a work painted by Apelles of Kos, who produced several portraits of Alexander the Great. It measures 5.82 m × 3.13 m (19 ft 1 in × 10 ft 3 in), and consists of approximately 1.5 million tesserae (coloured tiles), each about 3 mm (0.12 in) square. The mosaicist is unknown. Since the mosaic was not rediscovered until 1831, during excavations of Pompeii's House of the Faun, Altdorfer could never have seen it. It was later moved to the Naples National Archaeological Museum in Naples, Italy, where it currently resides.

File:Battle of Issus - initial deployment.svg

alt=A painting showing an elaborate and fanciful palace set in a landscape of forest and mountains. The forecourt of the palace is bustling with people. Outside the palace, near a fountain sits Susannah attended by handmaids who wash her feet and comb her hair. Two old courtiers spy on her from the dense undergrowth.

Detail of the fictitious mountain in the painting's centre

Category:Collection of the Alte Pinakothek

Detail of Alexander the Great from the [[Alexander Mosaic

commons:File:Altdorfer, Albrecht - Donaulandschaft mit Schloß Wörth.jpg

alt=A panel from an altarpiece by Grünewald. On the right, the Virgin Mary gazes at the Christ Child while above her, in a sky blazing with light, God is seated on a throne surrounded by the Hosts of Heaven. To the left an orchestra of cherubim plays in a Gothic loggia.

The initial dispositions at the Battle of Issus. The Pinarus River separates the belligerents, and Issus is {{convert

alt=A military diagram. A river runs through the lower-left diagonal. On one side are the Persians, with the Orientals and Greek mercenaries, and on the other are the Macedonians, with Alexander and Parmenion. The gradient of the nearby mountains generally decreases from the top right, till the shores of the gulf in the bottom left.

alt=A large mosaic depicting an array of soldiers on horseback doing battle. Parts of it have been damaged or lost to time.

alt=Small figures of women on the battlefield, all with long red hair and all wearing feathered toques

''Susannah and the Elders'' (1526), the only other painting by Altdorfer in the [[Alte Pinakothek

Detail of soldiers from both armies. Reinhart Koselleck comments that the Persians resemble the 16th-century Turks "from their feet to their turbans."

Matthias Grünewald's ''The Virgin and Child with the Heavenly Host'' (c. 1515)

Alexander the Great#Death and succession

alt=A miniature painting showing four brightly clothed men carrying a large banner which is painted with a complex battle scene

alt=An island, and a cityscape featuring church towers

mi}} to the north. Cavalry is concentrated on the shores of the Gulf of İskenderun (or Gulf of Issus) on both sides. Alexander devotes himself to a right approach with his Companion cavalry, having unseated the Persian foothill defence.

alt=A steep mountain, upon which are built fortifications

alt= A painting of St George slaying the dragon set in a dense forest in which the figures are dwarfed by the trees. A distant landscape is seen through a break.

Detail of the oversized island of Cyprus and what is probably the city of Tarsus

A miniature from ''Triumphal Procession'' (1512–1516)

File:Horatius Cocles Stopping King Porsenna's Army outside Rome (Ludwig Refinger) - Nationalmuseum - 17244.tif

alt=A blazing sun above blue-tinged mountains and water

The Alexander Mosaic, as seen in the Naples National Archaeological Museum

Category:Paintings by Albrecht Altdorfer

List of landscapes by Albrecht Altdorfer


The Battle of Alexander at Issus

Prompt: Explain the Earlier depictions about the Background of this artwork, The Battle of Alexander at Issus.

Earlier depictions of the Battle of Issus are few. Battle of Issus, a fresco by Philoxenus of Eretria, is probably the first such. It was painted sometime around 310 BC for Cassander (c. 350–297 BC), who was one of Alexander the Great's successors. Alexander and Darius – each within a lance's length of the other – are pictured among a wild fray of mounted and downed soldiers. While Alexander maintains an aura of unshaken confidence, fear is etched in Darius' face, and his charioteer has already turned to rein his horses and escape. Roman author and natural philosopher Pliny the Elder claimed that Philoxenus' portrayal of the battle was "inferior to none". Some modern critics posit that Battle of Issus might not have been the work of Philoxenus, but of Helena of Egypt. One of the few named women painters who might have worked in Ancient Greece, she was reputed to have produced a painting of the battle of Issus which hung in the Temple of Peace during the time of Vespasian.The Alexander Mosaic, a floor mosaic dating from c. 100 BC, is believed to be a "reasonably faithful" copy of Battle of Issus, though an alternative view holds it might instead be a copy of a work painted by Apelles of Kos, who produced several portraits of Alexander the Great. It measures 5.82 m × 3.13 m (19 ft 1 in × 10 ft 3 in), and consists of approximately 1.5 million tesserae (coloured tiles), each about 3 mm (0.12 in) square. The mosaicist is unknown. Since the mosaic was not rediscovered until 1831, during excavations of Pompeii's House of the Faun, Altdorfer could never have seen it. It was later moved to the Naples National Archaeological Museum in Naples, Italy, where it currently resides.

File:Battle of Issus - initial deployment.svg

alt=A painting showing an elaborate and fanciful palace set in a landscape of forest and mountains. The forecourt of the palace is bustling with people. Outside the palace, near a fountain sits Susannah attended by handmaids who wash her feet and comb her hair. Two old courtiers spy on her from the dense undergrowth.

Detail of the fictitious mountain in the painting's centre

Category:Collection of the Alte Pinakothek

Detail of Alexander the Great from the [[Alexander Mosaic

commons:File:Altdorfer, Albrecht - Donaulandschaft mit Schloß Wörth.jpg

alt=A panel from an altarpiece by Grünewald. On the right, the Virgin Mary gazes at the Christ Child while above her, in a sky blazing with light, God is seated on a throne surrounded by the Hosts of Heaven. To the left an orchestra of cherubim plays in a Gothic loggia.

The initial dispositions at the Battle of Issus. The Pinarus River separates the belligerents, and Issus is {{convert

alt=A military diagram. A river runs through the lower-left diagonal. On one side are the Persians, with the Orientals and Greek mercenaries, and on the other are the Macedonians, with Alexander and Parmenion. The gradient of the nearby mountains generally decreases from the top right, till the shores of the gulf in the bottom left.

alt=A large mosaic depicting an array of soldiers on horseback doing battle. Parts of it have been damaged or lost to time.

alt=Small figures of women on the battlefield, all with long red hair and all wearing feathered toques

''Susannah and the Elders'' (1526), the only other painting by Altdorfer in the [[Alte Pinakothek

Detail of soldiers from both armies. Reinhart Koselleck comments that the Persians resemble the 16th-century Turks "from their feet to their turbans."

Matthias Grünewald's ''The Virgin and Child with the Heavenly Host'' (c. 1515)

Alexander the Great#Death and succession

alt=A miniature painting showing four brightly clothed men carrying a large banner which is painted with a complex battle scene

alt=An island, and a cityscape featuring church towers

mi}} to the north. Cavalry is concentrated on the shores of the Gulf of İskenderun (or Gulf of Issus) on both sides. Alexander devotes himself to a right approach with his Companion cavalry, having unseated the Persian foothill defence.

alt=A steep mountain, upon which are built fortifications

alt= A painting of St George slaying the dragon set in a dense forest in which the figures are dwarfed by the trees. A distant landscape is seen through a break.

Detail of the oversized island of Cyprus and what is probably the city of Tarsus

A miniature from ''Triumphal Procession'' (1512–1516)

File:Horatius Cocles Stopping King Porsenna's Army outside Rome (Ludwig Refinger) - Nationalmuseum - 17244.tif

alt=A blazing sun above blue-tinged mountains and water

The Alexander Mosaic, as seen in the Naples National Archaeological Museum

Category:Paintings by Albrecht Altdorfer

List of landscapes by Albrecht Altdorfer


The Battle of Alexander at Issus

Prompt: In The Battle of Alexander at Issus, how is the Earlier depictions of the Background explained?

Earlier depictions of the Battle of Issus are few. Battle of Issus, a fresco by Philoxenus of Eretria, is probably the first such. It was painted sometime around 310 BC for Cassander (c. 350–297 BC), who was one of Alexander the Great's successors. Alexander and Darius – each within a lance's length of the other – are pictured among a wild fray of mounted and downed soldiers. While Alexander maintains an aura of unshaken confidence, fear is etched in Darius' face, and his charioteer has already turned to rein his horses and escape. Roman author and natural philosopher Pliny the Elder claimed that Philoxenus' portrayal of the battle was "inferior to none". Some modern critics posit that Battle of Issus might not have been the work of Philoxenus, but of Helena of Egypt. One of the few named women painters who might have worked in Ancient Greece, she was reputed to have produced a painting of the battle of Issus which hung in the Temple of Peace during the time of Vespasian.The Alexander Mosaic, a floor mosaic dating from c. 100 BC, is believed to be a "reasonably faithful" copy of Battle of Issus, though an alternative view holds it might instead be a copy of a work painted by Apelles of Kos, who produced several portraits of Alexander the Great. It measures 5.82 m × 3.13 m (19 ft 1 in × 10 ft 3 in), and consists of approximately 1.5 million tesserae (coloured tiles), each about 3 mm (0.12 in) square. The mosaicist is unknown. Since the mosaic was not rediscovered until 1831, during excavations of Pompeii's House of the Faun, Altdorfer could never have seen it. It was later moved to the Naples National Archaeological Museum in Naples, Italy, where it currently resides.

File:Battle of Issus - initial deployment.svg

alt=A painting showing an elaborate and fanciful palace set in a landscape of forest and mountains. The forecourt of the palace is bustling with people. Outside the palace, near a fountain sits Susannah attended by handmaids who wash her feet and comb her hair. Two old courtiers spy on her from the dense undergrowth.

Detail of the fictitious mountain in the painting's centre

Category:Collection of the Alte Pinakothek

Detail of Alexander the Great from the [[Alexander Mosaic

commons:File:Altdorfer, Albrecht - Donaulandschaft mit Schloß Wörth.jpg

alt=A panel from an altarpiece by Grünewald. On the right, the Virgin Mary gazes at the Christ Child while above her, in a sky blazing with light, God is seated on a throne surrounded by the Hosts of Heaven. To the left an orchestra of cherubim plays in a Gothic loggia.

The initial dispositions at the Battle of Issus. The Pinarus River separates the belligerents, and Issus is {{convert

alt=A military diagram. A river runs through the lower-left diagonal. On one side are the Persians, with the Orientals and Greek mercenaries, and on the other are the Macedonians, with Alexander and Parmenion. The gradient of the nearby mountains generally decreases from the top right, till the shores of the gulf in the bottom left.

alt=A large mosaic depicting an array of soldiers on horseback doing battle. Parts of it have been damaged or lost to time.

alt=Small figures of women on the battlefield, all with long red hair and all wearing feathered toques

''Susannah and the Elders'' (1526), the only other painting by Altdorfer in the [[Alte Pinakothek

Detail of soldiers from both armies. Reinhart Koselleck comments that the Persians resemble the 16th-century Turks "from their feet to their turbans."

Matthias Grünewald's ''The Virgin and Child with the Heavenly Host'' (c. 1515)

Alexander the Great#Death and succession

alt=A miniature painting showing four brightly clothed men carrying a large banner which is painted with a complex battle scene

alt=An island, and a cityscape featuring church towers

mi}} to the north. Cavalry is concentrated on the shores of the Gulf of İskenderun (or Gulf of Issus) on both sides. Alexander devotes himself to a right approach with his Companion cavalry, having unseated the Persian foothill defence.

alt=A steep mountain, upon which are built fortifications

alt= A painting of St George slaying the dragon set in a dense forest in which the figures are dwarfed by the trees. A distant landscape is seen through a break.

Detail of the oversized island of Cyprus and what is probably the city of Tarsus

A miniature from ''Triumphal Procession'' (1512–1516)

File:Horatius Cocles Stopping King Porsenna's Army outside Rome (Ludwig Refinger) - Nationalmuseum - 17244.tif

alt=A blazing sun above blue-tinged mountains and water

The Alexander Mosaic, as seen in the Naples National Archaeological Museum

Category:Paintings by Albrecht Altdorfer

List of landscapes by Albrecht Altdorfer


The Battle of Alexander at Issus

Prompt: Describe the characteristics of the Earlier depictions in The Battle of Alexander at Issus's Background.

Earlier depictions of the Battle of Issus are few. Battle of Issus, a fresco by Philoxenus of Eretria, is probably the first such. It was painted sometime around 310 BC for Cassander (c. 350–297 BC), who was one of Alexander the Great's successors. Alexander and Darius – each within a lance's length of the other – are pictured among a wild fray of mounted and downed soldiers. While Alexander maintains an aura of unshaken confidence, fear is etched in Darius' face, and his charioteer has already turned to rein his horses and escape. Roman author and natural philosopher Pliny the Elder claimed that Philoxenus' portrayal of the battle was "inferior to none". Some modern critics posit that Battle of Issus might not have been the work of Philoxenus, but of Helena of Egypt. One of the few named women painters who might have worked in Ancient Greece, she was reputed to have produced a painting of the battle of Issus which hung in the Temple of Peace during the time of Vespasian.The Alexander Mosaic, a floor mosaic dating from c. 100 BC, is believed to be a "reasonably faithful" copy of Battle of Issus, though an alternative view holds it might instead be a copy of a work painted by Apelles of Kos, who produced several portraits of Alexander the Great. It measures 5.82 m × 3.13 m (19 ft 1 in × 10 ft 3 in), and consists of approximately 1.5 million tesserae (coloured tiles), each about 3 mm (0.12 in) square. The mosaicist is unknown. Since the mosaic was not rediscovered until 1831, during excavations of Pompeii's House of the Faun, Altdorfer could never have seen it. It was later moved to the Naples National Archaeological Museum in Naples, Italy, where it currently resides.

File:Battle of Issus - initial deployment.svg

alt=A painting showing an elaborate and fanciful palace set in a landscape of forest and mountains. The forecourt of the palace is bustling with people. Outside the palace, near a fountain sits Susannah attended by handmaids who wash her feet and comb her hair. Two old courtiers spy on her from the dense undergrowth.

Detail of the fictitious mountain in the painting's centre

Category:Collection of the Alte Pinakothek

Detail of Alexander the Great from the [[Alexander Mosaic

commons:File:Altdorfer, Albrecht - Donaulandschaft mit Schloß Wörth.jpg

alt=A panel from an altarpiece by Grünewald. On the right, the Virgin Mary gazes at the Christ Child while above her, in a sky blazing with light, God is seated on a throne surrounded by the Hosts of Heaven. To the left an orchestra of cherubim plays in a Gothic loggia.

The initial dispositions at the Battle of Issus. The Pinarus River separates the belligerents, and Issus is {{convert

alt=A military diagram. A river runs through the lower-left diagonal. On one side are the Persians, with the Orientals and Greek mercenaries, and on the other are the Macedonians, with Alexander and Parmenion. The gradient of the nearby mountains generally decreases from the top right, till the shores of the gulf in the bottom left.

alt=A large mosaic depicting an array of soldiers on horseback doing battle. Parts of it have been damaged or lost to time.

alt=Small figures of women on the battlefield, all with long red hair and all wearing feathered toques

''Susannah and the Elders'' (1526), the only other painting by Altdorfer in the [[Alte Pinakothek

Detail of soldiers from both armies. Reinhart Koselleck comments that the Persians resemble the 16th-century Turks "from their feet to their turbans."

Matthias Grünewald's ''The Virgin and Child with the Heavenly Host'' (c. 1515)

Alexander the Great#Death and succession

alt=A miniature painting showing four brightly clothed men carrying a large banner which is painted with a complex battle scene

alt=An island, and a cityscape featuring church towers

mi}} to the north. Cavalry is concentrated on the shores of the Gulf of İskenderun (or Gulf of Issus) on both sides. Alexander devotes himself to a right approach with his Companion cavalry, having unseated the Persian foothill defence.

alt=A steep mountain, upon which are built fortifications

alt= A painting of St George slaying the dragon set in a dense forest in which the figures are dwarfed by the trees. A distant landscape is seen through a break.

Detail of the oversized island of Cyprus and what is probably the city of Tarsus

A miniature from ''Triumphal Procession'' (1512–1516)

File:Horatius Cocles Stopping King Porsenna's Army outside Rome (Ludwig Refinger) - Nationalmuseum - 17244.tif

alt=A blazing sun above blue-tinged mountains and water

The Alexander Mosaic, as seen in the Naples National Archaeological Museum

Category:Paintings by Albrecht Altdorfer

List of landscapes by Albrecht Altdorfer


The Battle of Alexander at Issus

Prompt: In the context of The Battle of Alexander at Issus, explain the Description and the Painting.

The Battle of Alexander at Issus is painted on a limewood panel measuring 158.4 cm × 120.3 cm (62.4 in × 47.4 in), and portrays the moment of Alexander the Great's victory. The vertical format was dictated by the space available in the room for which the painting was commissioned – each in William's set of eight was made to be the same size. At an unknown date, the panel was cut down on all sides, particularly at the top, so the sky was originally larger and the moon further from the corner of the scene. The scene is approached from an impossible viewpoint – at first only feet from the fray, the perspective gradually ascends to encompass the seas and continents in the background and eventually the curvature of the Earth itself.Thousands of horse and foot soldiers immersed in a sea of spears and lances populate the foreground. The two armies are distinguished by their dress, anachronistic though it is: whereas Alexander's men clad themselves and their horses in full suits of heavy armour, many of Darius' wear turbans and ride naked mounts. The bodies of the many fallen soldiers lie underfoot. A front of Macedonian warriors in the centre pushes against the crumbling enemy force, who flee the battlefield on the far left. The Persian king joins his army on his chariot of three horses, and is narrowly pursued by Alexander and his uniformly attired Companion cavalry. The tract of soldiers continues down the gently sloped battlefield to the campsite and cityscape by the water, gravitating toward the mountainous rise at the scene's centre.Beyond is the Mediterranean Sea and the island of Cyprus. Here, a transition in hue is made, from the browns that prevail in the lower half of the painting to the aquas that saturate the upper half. The Nile River meanders in the far distance, emptying its seven arms into the Mediterranean at the Nile Delta. South of Cyprus is the Sinai Peninsula, which forms a land bridge between Africa and Southwest Asia. The Red Sea lies beyond, eventually merging – as the mountain ranges to its left and right do – with the curved horizon.A fierce sky caught in the dichotomy between the setting sun and the crescent moon dominates more than a third of the painting. The rain-heavy clouds swirling ominously around each celestial entity are separated by a gulf of calmness, intensifying the contrast and infusing the heavens with an unearthly glow. Light from the sky spills onto the landscape: while the western continent and the Nile are bathed in the sun's light, the east and the Tower of Babel are cloaked in shadow.The painting's subject is explained in the tablet suspended from the heavens. The wording, probably supplied by William's court historian Johannes Aventinus, was originally in German but was later replaced by a Latin inscription. It translates:Alexander the Great defeating the last Darius, after 100,000 infantry and more than 10,000 cavalrymen had been killed amongst the ranks of the Persians. Whilst King Darius was able to flee with no more than 1,000 horsemen, his mother, wife, and children were taken prisoner.No date is provided for the battle alongside these casualty figures. The lower left-hand corner features Altdorfer's monogram – an 'A' within an 'A' – and the lower edge of the tablet is inscribed with "ALBRECHT ALTORFER ZU REGENSPVRG FECIT" ("Albrecht Altdorfer from Regensburg made [this]"). Tiny inscriptions on their chariot and harness identify Darius and Alexander, respectively. Each army bears a banner that reports both its total strength and its future casualties.

File:Battle of Issus - initial deployment.svg

alt=A painting showing an elaborate and fanciful palace set in a landscape of forest and mountains. The forecourt of the palace is bustling with people. Outside the palace, near a fountain sits Susannah attended by handmaids who wash her feet and comb her hair. Two old courtiers spy on her from the dense undergrowth.

Detail of the fictitious mountain in the painting's centre

Category:Collection of the Alte Pinakothek

Detail of Alexander the Great from the [[Alexander Mosaic

commons:File:Altdorfer, Albrecht - Donaulandschaft mit Schloß Wörth.jpg

alt=A panel from an altarpiece by Grünewald. On the right, the Virgin Mary gazes at the Christ Child while above her, in a sky blazing with light, God is seated on a throne surrounded by the Hosts of Heaven. To the left an orchestra of cherubim plays in a Gothic loggia.

The initial dispositions at the Battle of Issus. The Pinarus River separates the belligerents, and Issus is {{convert

alt=A military diagram. A river runs through the lower-left diagonal. On one side are the Persians, with the Orientals and Greek mercenaries, and on the other are the Macedonians, with Alexander and Parmenion. The gradient of the nearby mountains generally decreases from the top right, till the shores of the gulf in the bottom left.

alt=A large mosaic depicting an array of soldiers on horseback doing battle. Parts of it have been damaged or lost to time.

alt=Small figures of women on the battlefield, all with long red hair and all wearing feathered toques

''Susannah and the Elders'' (1526), the only other painting by Altdorfer in the [[Alte Pinakothek

Detail of soldiers from both armies. Reinhart Koselleck comments that the Persians resemble the 16th-century Turks "from their feet to their turbans."

Matthias Grünewald's ''The Virgin and Child with the Heavenly Host'' (c. 1515)

Alexander the Great#Death and succession

alt=A miniature painting showing four brightly clothed men carrying a large banner which is painted with a complex battle scene

alt=An island, and a cityscape featuring church towers

mi}} to the north. Cavalry is concentrated on the shores of the Gulf of İskenderun (or Gulf of Issus) on both sides. Alexander devotes himself to a right approach with his Companion cavalry, having unseated the Persian foothill defence.

alt=A steep mountain, upon which are built fortifications

alt= A painting of St George slaying the dragon set in a dense forest in which the figures are dwarfed by the trees. A distant landscape is seen through a break.

Detail of the oversized island of Cyprus and what is probably the city of Tarsus

A miniature from ''Triumphal Procession'' (1512–1516)

File:Horatius Cocles Stopping King Porsenna's Army outside Rome (Ludwig Refinger) - Nationalmuseum - 17244.tif

alt=A blazing sun above blue-tinged mountains and water

The Alexander Mosaic, as seen in the Naples National Archaeological Museum

Category:Paintings by Albrecht Altdorfer

List of landscapes by Albrecht Altdorfer


The Battle of Alexander at Issus

Prompt: Explain the Description about the Painting of this artwork, The Battle of Alexander at Issus.

The Battle of Alexander at Issus is painted on a limewood panel measuring 158.4 cm × 120.3 cm (62.4 in × 47.4 in), and portrays the moment of Alexander the Great's victory. The vertical format was dictated by the space available in the room for which the painting was commissioned – each in William's set of eight was made to be the same size. At an unknown date, the panel was cut down on all sides, particularly at the top, so the sky was originally larger and the moon further from the corner of the scene. The scene is approached from an impossible viewpoint – at first only feet from the fray, the perspective gradually ascends to encompass the seas and continents in the background and eventually the curvature of the Earth itself.Thousands of horse and foot soldiers immersed in a sea of spears and lances populate the foreground. The two armies are distinguished by their dress, anachronistic though it is: whereas Alexander's men clad themselves and their horses in full suits of heavy armour, many of Darius' wear turbans and ride naked mounts. The bodies of the many fallen soldiers lie underfoot. A front of Macedonian warriors in the centre pushes against the crumbling enemy force, who flee the battlefield on the far left. The Persian king joins his army on his chariot of three horses, and is narrowly pursued by Alexander and his uniformly attired Companion cavalry. The tract of soldiers continues down the gently sloped battlefield to the campsite and cityscape by the water, gravitating toward the mountainous rise at the scene's centre.Beyond is the Mediterranean Sea and the island of Cyprus. Here, a transition in hue is made, from the browns that prevail in the lower half of the painting to the aquas that saturate the upper half. The Nile River meanders in the far distance, emptying its seven arms into the Mediterranean at the Nile Delta. South of Cyprus is the Sinai Peninsula, which forms a land bridge between Africa and Southwest Asia. The Red Sea lies beyond, eventually merging – as the mountain ranges to its left and right do – with the curved horizon.A fierce sky caught in the dichotomy between the setting sun and the crescent moon dominates more than a third of the painting. The rain-heavy clouds swirling ominously around each celestial entity are separated by a gulf of calmness, intensifying the contrast and infusing the heavens with an unearthly glow. Light from the sky spills onto the landscape: while the western continent and the Nile are bathed in the sun's light, the east and the Tower of Babel are cloaked in shadow.The painting's subject is explained in the tablet suspended from the heavens. The wording, probably supplied by William's court historian Johannes Aventinus, was originally in German but was later replaced by a Latin inscription. It translates:Alexander the Great defeating the last Darius, after 100,000 infantry and more than 10,000 cavalrymen had been killed amongst the ranks of the Persians. Whilst King Darius was able to flee with no more than 1,000 horsemen, his mother, wife, and children were taken prisoner.No date is provided for the battle alongside these casualty figures. The lower left-hand corner features Altdorfer's monogram – an 'A' within an 'A' – and the lower edge of the tablet is inscribed with "ALBRECHT ALTORFER ZU REGENSPVRG FECIT" ("Albrecht Altdorfer from Regensburg made [this]"). Tiny inscriptions on their chariot and harness identify Darius and Alexander, respectively. Each army bears a banner that reports both its total strength and its future casualties.

File:Battle of Issus - initial deployment.svg

alt=A painting showing an elaborate and fanciful palace set in a landscape of forest and mountains. The forecourt of the palace is bustling with people. Outside the palace, near a fountain sits Susannah attended by handmaids who wash her feet and comb her hair. Two old courtiers spy on her from the dense undergrowth.

Detail of the fictitious mountain in the painting's centre

Category:Collection of the Alte Pinakothek

Detail of Alexander the Great from the [[Alexander Mosaic

commons:File:Altdorfer, Albrecht - Donaulandschaft mit Schloß Wörth.jpg

alt=A panel from an altarpiece by Grünewald. On the right, the Virgin Mary gazes at the Christ Child while above her, in a sky blazing with light, God is seated on a throne surrounded by the Hosts of Heaven. To the left an orchestra of cherubim plays in a Gothic loggia.

The initial dispositions at the Battle of Issus. The Pinarus River separates the belligerents, and Issus is {{convert

alt=A military diagram. A river runs through the lower-left diagonal. On one side are the Persians, with the Orientals and Greek mercenaries, and on the other are the Macedonians, with Alexander and Parmenion. The gradient of the nearby mountains generally decreases from the top right, till the shores of the gulf in the bottom left.

alt=A large mosaic depicting an array of soldiers on horseback doing battle. Parts of it have been damaged or lost to time.

alt=Small figures of women on the battlefield, all with long red hair and all wearing feathered toques

''Susannah and the Elders'' (1526), the only other painting by Altdorfer in the [[Alte Pinakothek

Detail of soldiers from both armies. Reinhart Koselleck comments that the Persians resemble the 16th-century Turks "from their feet to their turbans."

Matthias Grünewald's ''The Virgin and Child with the Heavenly Host'' (c. 1515)

Alexander the Great#Death and succession

alt=A miniature painting showing four brightly clothed men carrying a large banner which is painted with a complex battle scene

alt=An island, and a cityscape featuring church towers

mi}} to the north. Cavalry is concentrated on the shores of the Gulf of İskenderun (or Gulf of Issus) on both sides. Alexander devotes himself to a right approach with his Companion cavalry, having unseated the Persian foothill defence.

alt=A steep mountain, upon which are built fortifications

alt= A painting of St George slaying the dragon set in a dense forest in which the figures are dwarfed by the trees. A distant landscape is seen through a break.

Detail of the oversized island of Cyprus and what is probably the city of Tarsus

A miniature from ''Triumphal Procession'' (1512–1516)

File:Horatius Cocles Stopping King Porsenna's Army outside Rome (Ludwig Refinger) - Nationalmuseum - 17244.tif

alt=A blazing sun above blue-tinged mountains and water

The Alexander Mosaic, as seen in the Naples National Archaeological Museum

Category:Paintings by Albrecht Altdorfer

List of landscapes by Albrecht Altdorfer


The Battle of Alexander at Issus

Prompt: In The Battle of Alexander at Issus, how is the Description of the Painting explained?

The Battle of Alexander at Issus is painted on a limewood panel measuring 158.4 cm × 120.3 cm (62.4 in × 47.4 in), and portrays the moment of Alexander the Great's victory. The vertical format was dictated by the space available in the room for which the painting was commissioned – each in William's set of eight was made to be the same size. At an unknown date, the panel was cut down on all sides, particularly at the top, so the sky was originally larger and the moon further from the corner of the scene. The scene is approached from an impossible viewpoint – at first only feet from the fray, the perspective gradually ascends to encompass the seas and continents in the background and eventually the curvature of the Earth itself.Thousands of horse and foot soldiers immersed in a sea of spears and lances populate the foreground. The two armies are distinguished by their dress, anachronistic though it is: whereas Alexander's men clad themselves and their horses in full suits of heavy armour, many of Darius' wear turbans and ride naked mounts. The bodies of the many fallen soldiers lie underfoot. A front of Macedonian warriors in the centre pushes against the crumbling enemy force, who flee the battlefield on the far left. The Persian king joins his army on his chariot of three horses, and is narrowly pursued by Alexander and his uniformly attired Companion cavalry. The tract of soldiers continues down the gently sloped battlefield to the campsite and cityscape by the water, gravitating toward the mountainous rise at the scene's centre.Beyond is the Mediterranean Sea and the island of Cyprus. Here, a transition in hue is made, from the browns that prevail in the lower half of the painting to the aquas that saturate the upper half. The Nile River meanders in the far distance, emptying its seven arms into the Mediterranean at the Nile Delta. South of Cyprus is the Sinai Peninsula, which forms a land bridge between Africa and Southwest Asia. The Red Sea lies beyond, eventually merging – as the mountain ranges to its left and right do – with the curved horizon.A fierce sky caught in the dichotomy between the setting sun and the crescent moon dominates more than a third of the painting. The rain-heavy clouds swirling ominously around each celestial entity are separated by a gulf of calmness, intensifying the contrast and infusing the heavens with an unearthly glow. Light from the sky spills onto the landscape: while the western continent and the Nile are bathed in the sun's light, the east and the Tower of Babel are cloaked in shadow.The painting's subject is explained in the tablet suspended from the heavens. The wording, probably supplied by William's court historian Johannes Aventinus, was originally in German but was later replaced by a Latin inscription. It translates:Alexander the Great defeating the last Darius, after 100,000 infantry and more than 10,000 cavalrymen had been killed amongst the ranks of the Persians. Whilst King Darius was able to flee with no more than 1,000 horsemen, his mother, wife, and children were taken prisoner.No date is provided for the battle alongside these casualty figures. The lower left-hand corner features Altdorfer's monogram – an 'A' within an 'A' – and the lower edge of the tablet is inscribed with "ALBRECHT ALTORFER ZU REGENSPVRG FECIT" ("Albrecht Altdorfer from Regensburg made [this]"). Tiny inscriptions on their chariot and harness identify Darius and Alexander, respectively. Each army bears a banner that reports both its total strength and its future casualties.

File:Battle of Issus - initial deployment.svg

alt=A painting showing an elaborate and fanciful palace set in a landscape of forest and mountains. The forecourt of the palace is bustling with people. Outside the palace, near a fountain sits Susannah attended by handmaids who wash her feet and comb her hair. Two old courtiers spy on her from the dense undergrowth.

Detail of the fictitious mountain in the painting's centre

Category:Collection of the Alte Pinakothek

Detail of Alexander the Great from the [[Alexander Mosaic

commons:File:Altdorfer, Albrecht - Donaulandschaft mit Schloß Wörth.jpg

alt=A panel from an altarpiece by Grünewald. On the right, the Virgin Mary gazes at the Christ Child while above her, in a sky blazing with light, God is seated on a throne surrounded by the Hosts of Heaven. To the left an orchestra of cherubim plays in a Gothic loggia.

The initial dispositions at the Battle of Issus. The Pinarus River separates the belligerents, and Issus is {{convert

alt=A military diagram. A river runs through the lower-left diagonal. On one side are the Persians, with the Orientals and Greek mercenaries, and on the other are the Macedonians, with Alexander and Parmenion. The gradient of the nearby mountains generally decreases from the top right, till the shores of the gulf in the bottom left.

alt=A large mosaic depicting an array of soldiers on horseback doing battle. Parts of it have been damaged or lost to time.

alt=Small figures of women on the battlefield, all with long red hair and all wearing feathered toques

''Susannah and the Elders'' (1526), the only other painting by Altdorfer in the [[Alte Pinakothek

Detail of soldiers from both armies. Reinhart Koselleck comments that the Persians resemble the 16th-century Turks "from their feet to their turbans."

Matthias Grünewald's ''The Virgin and Child with the Heavenly Host'' (c. 1515)

Alexander the Great#Death and succession

alt=A miniature painting showing four brightly clothed men carrying a large banner which is painted with a complex battle scene

alt=An island, and a cityscape featuring church towers

mi}} to the north. Cavalry is concentrated on the shores of the Gulf of İskenderun (or Gulf of Issus) on both sides. Alexander devotes himself to a right approach with his Companion cavalry, having unseated the Persian foothill defence.

alt=A steep mountain, upon which are built fortifications

alt= A painting of St George slaying the dragon set in a dense forest in which the figures are dwarfed by the trees. A distant landscape is seen through a break.

Detail of the oversized island of Cyprus and what is probably the city of Tarsus

A miniature from ''Triumphal Procession'' (1512–1516)

File:Horatius Cocles Stopping King Porsenna's Army outside Rome (Ludwig Refinger) - Nationalmuseum - 17244.tif

alt=A blazing sun above blue-tinged mountains and water

The Alexander Mosaic, as seen in the Naples National Archaeological Museum

Category:Paintings by Albrecht Altdorfer

List of landscapes by Albrecht Altdorfer