Landscape with Fleeing King Darius after the Battle with Alexander the Great

Gillis van Valckenborch
(1570 Antwerp – 1622 Frankfurt am Main)

Landscape with Fleeing King Darius after the Battle with Alexander the Great
after 1595

oil, canvas, 147 x 195 cm; O 603.

At the turn of the 17th century, panoramic scenes of imaginary landscapes with storms, sea battles and unreal architectonic structures were popular in the landscape painting of the southern Netherlands. Valckenborch's painting is one the most remarkable works with these themes. The composition is dominated by storm clouds through which dramatic rays of light shine on the cliffs and on the stormy surface of the sea. The left part of the scene shows the final moments of the legendary battle of Issus in 333 BC, in which Alexander the Great defeated the Persian king Darius III, who was compelled to flee mindlessly after a short but deadly fight. At the scene of the battle he left his family, including his mother, wife and children, who were taken captive. This is depicted on the terrace in the left part of the scene. The painting had been partly veiled in mystery up until the recent past. Besides the name of the artist, who painted in the Mannerist style with an unusual composition of colours, and the theme, we now know that in the middle of the 17th century, the picture was part of the famous collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, the Governor of the Spanish Netherlands between 1646 and 1649 (modern day Belgium), where he devoted himself completely to collecting art.